Connections August 15, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1244)
Recap
The 2026-08-15 NYT Connections puzzle featured groups including states of tiredness, parts of a whole, words ending in units of length, and words ending in synonyms for secretly following.
The sixteen tiles
The sixteen tiles as dealt. Reveal a group below to tint and caption its tiles here.
Connections hints, one rung at a time
Six rungs, softest first. The recap above already named the groups, so this ladder is here for anyone replaying the board fresh rather than as a spoiler shield.
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Hint 1: Four one-line nudges, one per group
The softest hint there is.
- Yellow
- Feeling drained
- Green
- Part of a whole
- Blue
- Lengthy suffixes
- Purple
- Stealthy endings
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Hint 2: What linked each group, described
Still no titles and no tiles named.
Yellow group
These words describe a state of extreme tiredness or fatigue.
Green group
These words refer to a portion or division of something larger.
Blue group
These words conclude with terms used to measure distance or extension.
Purple group
These words conclude with terms that mean to follow or track secretly.
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Hint 3: Board facts
Counted off the sixteen printed tiles.
Sixteen tiles, four groups of four, ordered yellow → green → blue → purple from most to least obvious. 1 of the sixteen tile was more than one word.
- Tiles
- 16 across 4 groups
- Longest tile
- 10 characters
- Shortest tile
- 3 characters
- Multi-word tiles
- 1
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Hint 4: The trap on this board
Which tiles pulled in two directions.
Some words might seem like they fit into more than one category, be cautious with words like GRINCH and SOUNDTRACK that have multiple meanings or uses.
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Hint 5: The four category titles
Half the answer.
- Yellow
- EXHAUSTED
- Green
- SEGMENT
- Blue
- ENDING IN UNITS OF LENGTH
- Purple
- ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR FOLLOW SECRETLY
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Hint 6: One tile from each group
The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.
- Yellow — EXHAUSTED
- WORN OUT
- Green — SEGMENT
- STRETCH
- Blue — ENDING IN UNITS OF LENGTH
- LANYARD
- Purple — ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR FOLLOW SECRETLY
- HIGHTAIL
Every Connections group from that board
All four groups, folded. Opening one tints its four tiles above and captions them with the category name.
Yellow group · 4 tiles
EXHAUSTED
BEAT, FRIED, SPENT, WORN OUT. The yellow group, 'EXHAUSTED', consists of BEAT, FRIED, SPENT, WORN OUT.
Green group · 4 tiles
SEGMENT
LEG, PHASE, STAGE, STRETCH. The green group, 'SEGMENT', consists of LEG, PHASE, STAGE, STRETCH.
Blue group · 4 tiles
ENDING IN UNITS OF LENGTH
CHAMOMILE, GRINCH, HOTFOOT, LANYARD. The blue group, 'ENDING IN UNITS OF LENGTH', consists of CHAMOMILE, GRINCH, HOTFOOT, LANYARD.
Purple group · 4 tiles
ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR FOLLOW SECRETLY
BEANSTALK, EYESHADOW, HIGHTAIL, SOUNDTRACK. The purple group, 'ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR FOLLOW SECRETLY', consists of BEANSTALK, EYESHADOW, HIGHTAIL, SOUNDTRACK.
This board by the numbers
- Puzzle
- (#1244) · Saturday, August 15, 2026
- Tiles
- 16 in a 4 × 4 grid
- Groups
- 4, yellow to purple
- Multi-word tiles
- 1
- Longest tile
- SOUNDTRACK
- Mistakes allowed
- 4 before the board locked
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