If you’re looking for the September 14 Connections hints and answers, I’ve got you covered right here:

Hey there, Connectors! I hope your week is off to a great start.

Today marks the birthday of someone important to me who’s been through some hardships over the last couple of years. I won’t see them again in person for another few months. I don’t want to get into specifics of their situation, but if you could do me a favor and hug your loved ones extra tight today for me and them today, I’d appreciate it.

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 Tuesday, September 15 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.

  • PLANT
  • COACH
  • WHISTLE
  • DESSERT
  • HANDLE
  • CABOOSE
  • DECEMBER
  • SLEEPER
  • DIRECT
  • TRAIN
  • LID
  • ASSET
  • SPOUT
  • MOLE
  • EPILOGUE
  • GUIDE

Today’s NYT Connections Hints

The hints for today’s Connections categories are:

  • 🟨 Yellow group — show the way
  • 🟩 Green group — water lot of noise this thing can make
  • 🟦 Blue group — secretly in a bed?
  • 🟪 Purple group — you might not need to think about these for a while

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 — TRAIN
  • 🟩 Green group — HANDLE
  • 🟦 Blue group — PLANT
  • 🟪 Purple group — DESSERT

Today’s NYT Connections Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — instruct
  • 🟩 Green group — parts of a whistling kettle
  • 🟦 Blue group — undercover operative
  • 🟪 Purple group — things that appear at the end

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 — instruct (COACH, DIRECT, GUIDE, TRAIN)
  • 🟩 Green group — parts of a whistling kettle (HANDLE, LID, SPOUT, WHISTLE)
  • 🟦 Blue group — undercover operative (ASSET, MOLE, PLANT, SLEEPER)
  • 🟪 Purple group — things that appear at the end (CABOOSE, DECEMBER, DESSERT, EPILOGUE)

This is one of those games where I spotted a few groups pretty much all at once. Having CABOOSE and DECEMBER next to each other made me thing of things that are at the end, and that got me the purples. I thought they’d be green!

MOLE and SLEEPER led me into the blues. That’s a fun flip side of yesterday’s informant group.

I was then 50/50 as to what would be the greens and yellows. “Parts of a thing” seems more likely to be a green group than synonyms. I chose correctly then wrapped things up with the yellows for my first reverse rainbow in forever (bearing in mind that I don’t usually actively chase those!) and win number 562 in a row.

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

I thought TRAIN was a dead giveaway that several train-related things – CABOOSE, SLEEPER, COACH and WHISTLE – made for a red herring.

I did consider making the green hint a bit of a misdirect that tied into steam engines and trains, but that ultimately felt too mean and that’s not the vibe I’m going for here. But kettles can power engines!

Be sure to check my blog for hints and the answer for tomorrow’s game of Connections if you need them.

P.S. If Rosalia made a segue into metalcore, it might sound something like “Ravage” by Novelists (or it might sound nothing like that!). This French band is totally new to me and the song came to my ears by way of the mighty YouTube algorithm. I’ve listened to it a ton over the last week or so.

It’s a mix of prog metal, funk, pop and jazz, with classical strings thrown in for good measure. It’s wild and I think it’s terrific, probably my second-favorite song of the year so far. I love the video too, though be warned: there are some flashing lights .

If you’re up for trying something experimental, and don’t mind a little screaming, give this a go. It’s one of the most captivating songs I’ve heard in ages. I’m definitely going to have to check out more from this band:

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. You can also read my weekend editions of this column and more of my writing at my newsletter, Pastimes .