If you’re looking for the September 3 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:

Hey there, Connectors! Let’s make sure you can keep that Connections streak of yours in one piece as we slide into the weekend.

I hope you’ve got some fun plans lined up! It looks like it’ll be raining a lot here, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to sneak in a swim. However, we’re going to see Josh Johnson for the second time. I really enjoyed the first show of his we went to, so I’m excited to run it back.

Before we start, we’ve got a lovely community on Discord , where we chat about Connections , the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of things. You’re more than welcome to join us!

Also, my weekend editions of this column are available over on my newsletter, Pastimes . I sometimes write about other things that are on my mind there as well.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, September 4 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!

Connections is a free New York Times daily word game that you can play on the NYT ’s website or Games app. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive, which includes every previous game.

Connections presents you with a grid of 16 words (sometimes phrases, symbols or numbers). The aim is to arrange them into four groups of four. You don’t know how they hit together or what the category for each group is: that’s what you have to figure out.

There’s only one correct solution and there are often red herrings. You can guess incorrectly three times. A fourth wrong guess, and it’s game over.

Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to deduce, followed by green, blue and purple. Often, the yellow and green groups have synonyms, the blues have cultural references and the purples have some kind of wordplay involved. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Be ready for curveballs – part of the fun of Connections is in how the NYT shakes things up to keep you on your toes.

As with Wordle and similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends using an emoji-based grid. The game tracks your progress too.

Many players take pride in having long win streaks or getting a reverse rainbow – correctly guessing the purple, blue, green and yellow groups in that order with no mistakes. That adds an extra little challenge.

Today’s NYT Connections Word List

After today’s Connections word list, I’ll give you a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll reveal the categories, followed by the full answers.

  • MOON
  • EYE
  • PIZZA PIE
  • THAT'S
  • MORAY
  • CANDY CORN
  • ORANGE
  • OPINE
  • BOWLING BALL
  • RIBBON
  • CAKE DONUT
  • CONGER
  • CHERRY TOMATO
  • STIED
  • GULPER
  • CRINGEY

Today’s NYT Connections Hints

The hints for today’s Connections categories are:

  • 🟨 Yellow group — you might have a ball with these all around the globe
  • 🟩 Green group — as the Spice Girls might have sang before a lengthy midday break, "when two become yum"
  • 🟦 Blue group — MGMT wanted their girl to shock them like an electric one
  • 🟪 Purple group — plenty of extra flair, fittingly enough

One Answer For Each NYT Connections Group

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one answer for each group.

  • 🟨 Yellow group — MOON
  • 🟩 Green group — CAKE DONUT
  • 🟦 Blue group — RIBBON
  • 🟪 Purple group — THAT’S

Today’s NYT Connections Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — spherical things
  • 🟩 Green group — food whose name is two foods
  • 🟦 Blue group — kinds of eels
  • 🟪 Purple group — accessories inside starting and ending letters

Today’s NYT Connections Answer

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your last chance to look away.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — spherical things (BOWLING BALL, EYE, MOON, ORANGE)
  • 🟩 Green group — food whose name is two foods (CAKE DONUT, CANDY CORN, CHERRY TOMATO, PIZZA PIE)
  • 🟦 Blue group — kinds of eels (CONGER, GULPER, MORAY, RIBBON)
  • 🟪 Purple group — accessories inside starting and ending letters (CRINGEY, OPINE, STIED, THAT’S)

I thoroughly enjoyed the top line plus MORAY today. Very good. If you don't know the reference... we'll get to that.

Since I knew that couldn't be a group by itself, MORAY had to go with the rest of the eels to lock in the blues. The food phrases were up next. I didn't consider that they each had two food words in them.

I figured the round things had to be the yellows, so I slid through the purples first. I was blissfully unaware as to what the category might be. Interesting to see this spin on words that have a single extra letter at the beginning or end. They refer to ring, pin, tie and hat.

The yellows then sealed my 551st win in a row.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

That about does it for my current weekday run of Connections fun and games. I’ll be back with you for more hints, answers and chit-chat on Monday. Until then, you can read my weekend editions of this column and more of my writing at my newsletter, Pastimes .

P.S. I’m too lazy to check if I’ve used this as a recommendation before, but it doesn’t matter because I have no choice but to go with it today. I do feel like I might have run with "That's Amore" by Dean Martin in the past, though!

That’s what the top line of the grid was referring to. It famously features the line, “when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore.” This’ll be in my head all day:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Please follow my blog for more NYT Connections hints and help with other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. I’d really appreciate that as it helps me out. If you share this column with others who play Connections, that would be lovely too.