TodayHint

Connections August 17, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1246)

edited by Wyna Liu.

Recap

The 2026-08-17 Connections puzzle featured groups including popular video call platforms, key spreadsheet features, legendary country music names, and photography terms starting with 'pet' related words.

The sixteen tiles

The sixteen tiles as dealt. Reveal a group below to tint and caption its tiles here.

MACROMEETDOLLYDOGIEZOOMCATTLEFISHEYESCRIPTWILLIEBIRDIEPATSYFUNCTIONHUDDLEFORMULAJOHNNYTEAMS

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.

  1. Four one-line nudges, one per group

    The softest hint there is.

    Yellow
    Virtual meetups
    Green
    Coding concepts
    Blue
    Music icons
    Purple
    Photography terms
  2. What linked each group, described

    Still no titles and no tiles named.

    Yellow group

    These platforms facilitate remote communication and collaboration online.

    Green group

    These terms relate to programming tools used in data analysis software.

    Blue group

    These individuals are renowned figures in the country music scene.

    Purple group

    These words describe techniques or tools used in visual capture.

  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. Every tile was a single word.

    Tiles
    16 across 4 groups
    Longest tile
    8 characters
    Shortest tile
    4 characters
    Multi-word tiles
    0
    Back to the sixteen tiles
  4. The trap on this board

    Which tiles pulled in two directions.

    Some cards could fit into multiple categories at first glance, particularly those related to technology and terminology. Be cautious with cards like 'MEET' and 'FUNCTION'.

  5. The four category titles

    Half the answer.

    Yellow
    VIDEO CALL PLATFORMS
    Green
    SPREADSHEET FEATURES
    Blue
    FIRST NAMES OF COUNTRY MUSIC LEGENDS
    Purple
    STARTING WITH PETS
  6. One tile from each group

    The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.

    Yellow — VIDEO CALL PLATFORMS
    HUDDLE
    Green — SPREADSHEET FEATURES
    SCRIPT
    Blue — FIRST NAMES OF COUNTRY MUSIC LEGENDS
    JOHNNY
    Purple — STARTING WITH PETS
    FISHEYE
    Open the full groupings

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

    VIDEO CALL PLATFORMS

    HUDDLE, MEET, TEAMS, ZOOM. The yellow group, VIDEO CALL PLATFORMS, consists of HUDDLE, MEET, TEAMS, ZOOM.

  • Green group · 4 tiles

    SPREADSHEET FEATURES

    FORMULA, FUNCTION, MACRO, SCRIPT. The green group, SPREADSHEET FEATURES, consists of FORMULA, FUNCTION, MACRO, SCRIPT.

  • Blue group · 4 tiles

    FIRST NAMES OF COUNTRY MUSIC LEGENDS

    DOLLY, JOHNNY, PATSY, WILLIE. The blue group, FIRST NAMES OF COUNTRY MUSIC LEGENDS, consists of DOLLY, JOHNNY, PATSY, WILLIE.

  • Purple group · 4 tiles

    STARTING WITH PETS

    BIRDIE, CATTLE, DOGIE, FISHEYE. The purple group, STARTING WITH PETS, consists of BIRDIE, CATTLE, DOGIE, FISHEYE.

This board by the numbers

Puzzle
(#1246) · Monday, August 17, 2026
Tiles
16 in a 4 × 4 grid
Groups
4, yellow to purple
Multi-word tiles
0
Longest tile
FUNCTION
Mistakes allowed
4 before the board locked

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