Connections August 25, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1254)
Recap
The connections between the cards were based on their meanings and themes, requiring careful consideration of each group's characteristics.
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
- Shallow terms
- Green
- Science fiction
- Blue
- King adaptations
- Purple
- Sweet phrases
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Hint 2: What linked each group, described
Still no titles and no tiles named.
Yellow group
These phrases describe something that is not deep or profound.
Green group
These terms refer to concepts often found in science fiction stories.
Blue group
These are film adaptations of novels by a famous horror author.
Purple group
These phrases end with words commonly used in ice cream orders.
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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. 9 of the sixteen tiles were more than one word.
- Tiles
- 16 across 4 groups
- Longest tile
- 20 characters
- Shortest tile
- 8 characters
- Multi-word tiles
- 9
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Hint 4: The trap on this board
Which tiles pulled in two directions.
Some cards could fit into multiple categories, be careful with cards like 'Long Walk' and 'Green Mile' which might seem related to different themes.
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Hint 5: The four category titles
Half the answer.
- Yellow
- SURFACE-LEVEL
- Green
- SCI-FI PHENOMENA
- Blue
- STEPHEN KING FILM ADAPTATIONS, WITH "THE"
- Purple
- ENDING IN ICE CREAM ORDERS
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Hint 6: One tile from each group
The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.
- Yellow — SURFACE-LEVEL
- SUPERFICIAL
- Green — SCI-FI PHENOMENA
- TELEPORTATION
- Blue — STEPHEN KING FILM ADAPTATIONS, WITH "THE"
- SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
- Purple — ENDING IN ICE CREAM ORDERS
- LICKETY-SPLIT
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
SURFACE-LEVEL
COSMETIC, ONE-DIMENSIONAL, SKIN-DEEP, SUPERFICIAL. The yellow group, SURFACE-LEVEL, includes COSMETIC, ONE-DIMENSIONAL, SKIN-DEEP, SUPERFICIAL.
Green group · 4 tiles
SCI-FI PHENOMENA
HYPERSPACE, PARALLEL UNIVERSE, TELEPORTATION, TIME WARP. The green group, SCI-FI PHENOMENA, includes HYPERSPACE, PARALLEL UNIVERSE, TELEPORTATION, TIME WARP.
Blue group · 4 tiles
STEPHEN KING FILM ADAPTATIONS, WITH "THE"
GREEN MILE, LONG WALK, RUNNING MAN, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. The blue group, STEPHEN KING FILM ADAPTATIONS, WITH 'THE', includes GREEN MILE, LONG WALK, RUNNING MAN, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.
Purple group · 4 tiles
ENDING IN ICE CREAM ORDERS
HARLEM SHAKE, INSIDE SCOOP, LICKETY-SPLIT, TRAFFIC CONE. The purple group, ENDING IN ICE CREAM ORDERS, includes HARLEM SHAKE, INSIDE SCOOP, LICKETY-SPLIT, TRAFFIC CONE.
This board by the numbers
- Puzzle
- (#1254) · Tuesday, August 25, 2026
- Tiles
- 16 in a 4 × 4 grid
- Groups
- 4, yellow to purple
- Multi-word tiles
- 9
- Longest tile
- SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
- Mistakes allowed
- 4 before the board locked
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