Today’s Tips and Answers for NYT Connections, September 16, No. 463

Searching The most recent Are the connections responding? Click here for today’s Connections tipsas well as our daily answers and hints for the New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Need the answers to the New York Times Connections puzzle? To me, Wordle is more of a vocabulary test, but Connections is more of a puzzle. You’re given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are connected in some way. Sometimes they’re obvious, but the game’s editor, Wyna Liu, knows how to trick you by using words that can fit into more than one group. Read on for today’s Connections clues and answers.

There are new developments in the world of Connections, too. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one it has had for some time for Wordle. Go there after playing to receive a numerical score and have the program analyze your answers. And players who are registered in the Times’s games section can now go crazy tracking their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, the number of times they’ve gotten a perfect score, and their win streak.

Read more: NYT Connections could be the new Wordle: our tips and tricks

How to play Connections

Playing is easy, winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are color-coded, though you don’t know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the hardest. Look at the words carefully and think of related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just one part of the word. One time, four words were grouped together because each began with the name of a rock band, including “Rushmore” and “Journeyman.”

Read more: The Connections bot will give you a numerical score every day

Tips for today’s Connections groups

Here are four clues to the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the yellow group, the easiest, to the purple group, the hardest (and sometimes strangest).

Suggestion from the yellow group: First.

Green Group Council: Oh!

Suggestion from the blue group: It might make you shudder.

Purple Group Suggestion: Have a top.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Major.

Green group: Pointy things.

Blue group: An excessively sentimental work.

Purple group: Things that have limits.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: These Are the Most Used Letters in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The issue is paramount. The four answers are: principal, main and supreme.

Green words in today’s Connections

The theme is pointy things. The four answers are cactus, hedgehog, mace and pineapple.

Blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is an overly sentimental work. The four answers are cheese, corn, porridge and mush.

Purple words in today’s Connections

The topic is things that have a limit. The four answers are bottle, graduate, mushroom and salary.