Connections September 20, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1298)
Recap
The puzzle featured four groups of connected tiles, ranging from everyday objects to movie titles and cultural associations. Solvers had to carefully consider the relationships between the tiles to place them correctly.
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
- Flat items
- Green
- Kentucky vibe
- Blue
- Dark cinema
- Purple
- Ride types
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Hint 2: What linked each group, described
Still no titles and no tiles named.
Yellow group
These four items share a common shape or form, often found in everyday life.
Green group
These four things evoke a sense of place or culture associated with a particular American state.
Blue group
These four movie titles all relate to a specific genre of film that often features supernatural creatures.
Purple group
These four words complete a phrase related to recreational activities that involve gliding or sliding on a board.
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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. 3 of the sixteen tiles were more than one word.
- Tiles
- 16 across 4 groups
- Longest tile
- 13 characters
- Shortest tile
- 4 characters
- Multi-word tiles
- 3
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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, especially those that relate to popular culture or everyday objects. Be cautious with cards like COASTER and DERBY.
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Hint 5: The four category titles
Half the answer.
- Yellow
- ROUND FLAT THINGS
- Green
- ASSOCIATED WITH KENTUCKY
- Blue
- VAMPIRE MOVIES
- Purple
- ___BOARDS YOU RIDE ON
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Hint 6: One tile from each group
The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.
- Yellow — ROUND FLAT THINGS
- SAND DOLLAR
- Green — ASSOCIATED WITH KENTUCKY
- FRIED CHICKEN
- Blue — VAMPIRE MOVIES
- SINNERS
- Purple — ___BOARDS YOU RIDE ON
- HOVER
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
ROUND FLAT THINGS
BLU-RAY, COASTER, SAND DOLLAR, TORTILLA. The yellow group, 'ROUND FLAT THINGS', consists of BLU-RAY, COASTER, SAND DOLLAR, and TORTILLA.
Green group · 4 tiles
ASSOCIATED WITH KENTUCKY
BLUEGRASS, BOURBON, DERBY, FRIED CHICKEN. The green group, 'ASSOCIATED WITH KENTUCKY', consists of BLUEGRASS, BOURBON, DERBY, and FRIED CHICKEN.
Blue group · 4 tiles
VAMPIRE MOVIES
BLADE, NEAR DARK, SINNERS, TWILIGHT. The blue group, 'VAMPIRE MOVIES', consists of BLADE, NEAR DARK, SINNERS, and TWILIGHT.
Purple group · 4 tiles
___BOARDS YOU RIDE ON
HOVER, SKATE, SNOW, SURF. The purple group, '___BOARDS YOU RIDE ON', consists of HOVER, SKATE, SNOW, and SURF.
This board by the numbers
- Puzzle
- (#1298) · Sunday, September 20, 2026
- Tiles
- 16 in a 4 × 4 grid
- Groups
- 4, yellow to purple
- Multi-word tiles
- 3
- Longest tile
- FRIED CHICKEN
- Mistakes allowed
- 4 before the board locked
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See the live Connections hints and answers page for the current board, or browse every archived Connections date by month.
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