Connections September 10, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1286)
Recap
The groups were well-distributed in difficulty, with CHEMICAL ELEMENTS being the easiest and ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "HAPPENING NOW" being the hardest. Solvers had to think creatively for the green and blue groups.
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
- Periodic table
- Green
- Window features
- Blue
- Springsteen songs
- Purple
- Synonyms end
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Hint 2: What linked each group, described
Still no titles and no tiles named.
Yellow group
These are all found on the periodic table of elements.
Green group
These are things you might see protruding from a window.
Blue group
These are all song titles by a famous New Jersey musician.
Purple group
These phrases or words all end with synonyms for 'happening now'.
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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. 7 of the sixteen tiles were more than one word.
- Tiles
- 16 across 4 groups
- Longest tile
- 19 characters
- Shortest tile
- 4 characters
- Multi-word tiles
- 7
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Hint 4: The trap on this board
Which tiles pulled in two directions.
Some cards could fit into multiple categories at first glance, be cautious with ACTINIUM, KRYPTON, LEAD, SULFUR, ATLANTIC CITY, BADLANDS, BORN TO RUN, THUNDER ROAD, ADULT CONTEMPORARY, ALTERNATING CURRENT, REPRESENT, and SEXTANT.
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Hint 5: The four category titles
Half the answer.
- Yellow
- CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
- Green
- WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE STICKING OUT OF A WINDOW
- Blue
- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CLASSICS
- Purple
- ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "HAPPENING NOW"
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Hint 6: One tile from each group
The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.
- Yellow — CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
- ACTINIUM
- Green — WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE STICKING OUT OF A WINDOW
- CATIO
- Blue — BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CLASSICS
- BADLANDS
- Purple — ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "HAPPENING NOW"
- REPRESENT
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
CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
ACTINIUM, KRYPTON, LEAD, SULFUR. The yellow group, CHEMICAL ELEMENTS, consists of ACTINIUM, KRYPTON, LEAD, SULFUR.
Green group · 4 tiles
WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE STICKING OUT OF A WINDOW
AIR CONDITIONER, CATIO, CLOTHESLINE, FLOWER BOX. The green group, WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE STICKING OUT OF A WINDOW, consists of AIR CONDITIONER, CATIO, CLOTHESLINE, FLOWER BOX.
Blue group · 4 tiles
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CLASSICS
ATLANTIC CITY, BADLANDS, BORN TO RUN, THUNDER ROAD. The blue group, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CLASSICS, consists of ATLANTIC CITY, BADLANDS, BORN TO RUN, THUNDER ROAD.
Purple group · 4 tiles
ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "HAPPENING NOW"
ADULT CONTEMPORARY, ALTERNATING CURRENT, REPRESENT, SEXTANT. The purple group, ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "HAPPENING NOW", consists of ADULT CONTEMPORARY, ALTERNATING CURRENT, REPRESENT, SEXTANT.
This board by the numbers
- Puzzle
- (#1286) · Thursday, September 10, 2026
- Tiles
- 16 in a 4 × 4 grid
- Groups
- 4, yellow to purple
- Multi-word tiles
- 7
- Longest tile
- ALTERNATING CURRENT
- Mistakes allowed
- 4 before the board locked
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