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Connections September 28, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1305)

edited by Wyna Liu.

Recap

The connections were categorized into groups of four, requiring lateral thinking to link the cards, with some obvious and others more challenging connections.

The sixteen tiles

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

CHIHUAHUALEMONVIPERBAMBOOCELERYTABASCOARKANSANSDURANGOSPRINGINGCHARGERHORSERADISHWHEATPOSSESSESMIGNONETTECORNCHALLENGER

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
    Veggie parts
    Green
    Seafood toppings
    Blue
    Car models
    Purple
    Word patterns
  2. What linked each group, described

    Still no titles and no tiles named.

    Yellow group

    Common edible plants with elongated fibrous parts

    Green group

    Condiments often served with oysters in restaurants

    Blue group

    Popular muscle cars and SUVs made by an American brand

    Purple group

    Phrases with three letters followed by repeated consonant patterns

  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
    11 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, beware of CHIHUAHUA and POSSESSES which might cause confusion, also consider the common theme of CELERY and VIPER.

  5. The four category titles

    Half the answer.

    Yellow
    THINGS WITH STALKS
    Green
    OYSTER CONDIMENTS
    Blue
    DODGE MODELS
    Purple
    THREE LETTERS PLUS REPEATED TRIGRAMS
  6. One tile from each group

    The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.

    Yellow — THINGS WITH STALKS
    WHEAT
    Green — OYSTER CONDIMENTS
    MIGNONETTE
    Blue — DODGE MODELS
    VIPER
    Purple — THREE LETTERS PLUS REPEATED TRIGRAMS
    SPRINGING
    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

    THINGS WITH STALKS

    BAMBOO, CELERY, CORN, WHEAT. The yellow group 'THINGS WITH STALKS' includes BAMBOO, CELERY, CORN, WHEAT.

  • Green group · 4 tiles

    OYSTER CONDIMENTS

    HORSERADISH, LEMON, MIGNONETTE, TABASCO. The green group 'OYSTER CONDIMENTS' includes HORSERADISH, LEMON, MIGNONETTE, TABASCO.

  • Blue group · 4 tiles

    DODGE MODELS

    CHALLENGER, CHARGER, DURANGO, VIPER. The blue group 'DODGE MODELS' includes CHALLENGER, CHARGER, DURANGO, VIPER.

  • Purple group · 4 tiles

    THREE LETTERS PLUS REPEATED TRIGRAMS

    ARKANSANS, CHIHUAHUA, POSSESSES, SPRINGING. The purple group 'THREE LETTERS PLUS REPEATED TRIGRAMS' includes ARKANSANS, CHIHUAHUA, POSSESSES, SPRINGING.

This board by the numbers

Puzzle
(#1305) · Monday, September 28, 2026
Tiles
16 in a 4 × 4 grid
Groups
4, yellow to purple
Multi-word tiles
0
Longest tile
HORSERADISH
Mistakes allowed
4 before the board locked

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