MEDIUMPuzzle #1181

NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1181) – Today's Puzzle, Sep 4

TODAY'S NYT CONNECTIONS TIP

“Start by identifying SPHERICAL THINGS (BOWLING BALL, EYE...) to narrow down the remaining 16-word grid!”

Written by Naveed Ahmed · Updated: September 4, 2026

← Yesterday's Connections Hint (#1180, Sep 3)

Connections Hint for Each Word Today

Tap any word to see its Connections hint — what it means in today's puzzle, no spoilers.

BOWLING BALL hint: In the context of spherical things, "BOWLING BALL" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

EYE hint: In the context of spherical things, "EYE" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

MOON hint: In the context of spherical things, "MOON" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

ORANGE hint: In the context of spherical things, "ORANGE" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

CAKE DONUT hint: In the context of food whose name is two foods, "CAKE DONUT" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

CANDY CORN hint: In the context of food whose name is two foods, "CANDY CORN" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

CHERRY TOMATO hint: In the context of food whose name is two foods, "CHERRY TOMATO" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

PIZZA PIE hint: In the context of food whose name is two foods, "PIZZA PIE" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

CONGER hint: In the context of eels, "CONGER" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

GULPER hint: In the context of eels, "GULPER" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

MORAY hint: In the context of eels, "MORAY" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

RIBBON hint: In the context of eels, "RIBBON" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

CRINGY hint: In this wordplay group, "CRINGY" fulfills the structural letter condition (such as anagrams, hidden words, or double letters).

OPINE hint: In this wordplay group, "OPINE" fulfills the structural letter condition (such as anagrams, hidden words, or double letters).

STIED hint: In this wordplay group, "STIED" fulfills the structural letter condition (such as anagrams, hidden words, or double letters).

THAT'S hint: In this wordplay group, "THAT'S" fulfills the structural letter condition (such as anagrams, hidden words, or double letters).

Hints uncovered0 / 16

Today's NYT Connections Hints for All Four Categories

Reveal progressively: see the category hint first, then the group name, then individual words — stop whenever you have enough.

🟡 Straightforward

🟢 Medium

🔵 Hard

🟣 Tricky

⚠️Traps & Misdirects Hints for Today’s Connections Puzzle

Today’s Connections puzzle includes words intentionally placed to misdirect you into wrong groups. These traps and misdirects hints reveal which words are designed to mislead, so you don’t burn your 4 allowed mistakes on deliberate decoys.

CAKE DONUT, CANDY CORN, CHERRY TOMATO, PIZZA PIE

In today's medium category (FOOD WHOSE NAME IS TWO FOODS), pay close attention to subtle shifts in meaning. Words like CAKE DONUT, CANDY CORN, CHERRY TOMATO, PIZZA PIE may appear to belong to other everyday contexts, but their true connection lies in their shared relationship to FOOD WHOSE NAME IS TWO FOODS.

CRINGY, OPINE, STIED, THAT'S

The trickiest grouping today is "ACCESSORIES INSIDE STARTING AND ENDING LETTERS". Words such as CRINGY, OPINE, STIED, THAT'S are designed as intentional misdirects. Look past their obvious surface meanings for hidden wordplay or secondary definitions.

CONGER, GULPER, MORAY, RIBBON

Be careful with overlap between CONGER, GULPER, MORAY, RIBBON and other categories on the board. The editor often places decoy pairings in "KINDS OF EELS" to trap unsuspecting players into using up their 4 allowed mistakes.

Today's NYT Connections Answers

Click to reveal the complete solution — all four categories.

Category: SPHERICAL THINGS (Straightforward) — Answers: BOWLING BALL, EYE, MOON, ORANGE

Category: FOOD WHOSE NAME IS TWO FOODS (Medium) — Answers: CAKE DONUT, CANDY CORN, CHERRY TOMATO, PIZZA PIE

Category: KINDS OF EELS (Hard) — Answers: CONGER, GULPER, MORAY, RIBBON

Category: ACCESSORIES INSIDE STARTING AND ENDING LETTERS (Tricky) — Answers: CRINGY, OPINE, STIED, THAT'S

Today's NYT Connections Answers Explained

SPHERICAL THINGS

The words BOWLING BALL, EYE, MOON, ORANGE all share a unique thematic connection as spherical things.

BOWLING BALL

In the context of spherical things, "BOWLING BALL" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

EYE

In the context of spherical things, "EYE" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

MOON

In the context of spherical things, "MOON" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

ORANGE

In the context of spherical things, "ORANGE" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

FOOD WHOSE NAME IS TWO FOODS

The words CAKE DONUT, CANDY CORN, CHERRY TOMATO, PIZZA PIE all share a unique thematic connection as food whose name is two foods.

CAKE DONUT

In the context of food whose name is two foods, "CAKE DONUT" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

CANDY CORN

In the context of food whose name is two foods, "CANDY CORN" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

CHERRY TOMATO

In the context of food whose name is two foods, "CHERRY TOMATO" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

PIZZA PIE

In the context of food whose name is two foods, "PIZZA PIE" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

KINDS OF EELS

The words CONGER, GULPER, MORAY, RIBBON all share a unique thematic connection as kinds of eels.

CONGER

In the context of eels, "CONGER" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

GULPER

In the context of eels, "GULPER" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

MORAY

In the context of eels, "MORAY" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

RIBBON

In the context of eels, "RIBBON" stands out as a clear, defining example within this group.

ACCESSORIES INSIDE STARTING AND ENDING LETTERS

The words CRINGY, OPINE, STIED, THAT'S all share a unique thematic connection as accessories inside starting and ending letters.

CRINGY

In this wordplay group, "CRINGY" fulfills the structural letter condition (such as anagrams, hidden words, or double letters).

OPINE

In this wordplay group, "OPINE" fulfills the structural letter condition (such as anagrams, hidden words, or double letters).

STIED

In this wordplay group, "STIED" fulfills the structural letter condition (such as anagrams, hidden words, or double letters).

THAT'S

In this wordplay group, "THAT'S" fulfills the structural letter condition (such as anagrams, hidden words, or double letters).

What Makes Today’s NYT Connections Puzzle Tricky?

CAKE DONUT, CANDY CORN, CHERRY TOMATO, PIZZA PIE sit alongside CONGER, GULPER, MORAY, RIBBON and phrases like CRINGY, OPINE, STIED, THAT'S — a collision of distinct word groups and subtle misdirects.

The editor's sharpest trick is hiding a word-within-a-word: some of the multi-word phrases are not grouped by their topic but by what their first word secretly means.

How to Use Connections Hints

Everyone playing NYT Connections puzzle gets stuck at a different point. Some players can’t figure out a single word. Others have three groups solved and can’t find the fourth. Where you are stuck determines which connection hint you need.

A word in the puzzle has an unfamiliar meaning

Some words in today’s NYT Connections puzzle are uncommon. Connections editor Wyna Liu often uses words with specific or less familiar meanings, particularly in the green, blue, and purple categories. If you don’t know what a word means, you cannot reliably place it in a group.

Recommendation: Use the Word Hint. It tells you what the word means in the context of today’s puzzle. Tap any word directly on the board above to see its hint.

No groups are forming after reading all sixteen words

The connection between words is often not obvious from their meanings alone — categories are built around themes that require a specific angle to see. These category-level clues are the most useful hints.

Recommendation: Use the Category Hint. It points you toward the theme of a category without revealing the category name or which words belong to it. Tap “Yellow Category Hint” first.

You have a possible group but aren’t ready to guess

You think four words belong together but you’re not confident enough to guess. If you’re unsure, don’t guess yet — a wrong guess costs you one of your four mistakes.

Recommendation: Use the Category Name. It reveals the exact name of the category without showing you which words belong to it.

One word seems to fit more than one group

You have built a group of four words but one word in it could also fit somewhere else. NYT Connections editor Wyna Liu deliberately places misleading words on the board.

Recommendation: Use the Traps and Misdirects Hints. It identifies the specific misleading words in today’s puzzle and explains why they don’t belong where you think they do.

You know the category but can’t find all four words

You have identified the theme of a category but can’t find all four words that belong to it.

Recommendation: Use the Word Reveal. It uncovers one masked word at a time without revealing the full group. This is the most precise connection hint available.

One mistake left with two groups unsolved

You have one mistake remaining and two groups unsolved. If you guess wrong here, the game ends and NYT reveals all the answers automatically.

Recommendation: Do not guess yet. Use the Category Name for both remaining groups first. If that is still not enough, tap “Category Words” and reveal one word at a time.

You want today’s answers without solving the puzzle

Use the Answers section. It shows all four category names and the four words that belong to each one.

Recommendation: Go to the Answers section.

The puzzle is over but a category still doesn’t make sense

You can see the four groups and their words but the connection between them isn’t clear.

Recommendation: Use the Answer Explanation. It tells you exactly what connects the words in each category and why each individual word belongs there.

Browse Past Puzzles

View answers and hints for every previous NYT Connections puzzle.

Puzzle Archive →

Frequently Asked Questions

NYT Connections is a daily word puzzle by The New York Times where you group 16 words into 4 categories of 4 words each. Each category has a hidden theme color-coded by difficulty.

Yellow is the most straightforward category, Green is medium difficulty, Blue is harder, and Purple contains the trickiest, most misleading groupings.

Yes, NYT Connections is free to play once per day on the New York Times Games website.

A new NYT Connections puzzle releases every day at midnight in your local time zone (12:00 AM ET for US Eastern Time).

Naveed Ahmed

@NaveedAhmedDev•@naveedcolab

Lead Writer & Connections Puzzle Analyst

Naveed is a dedicated puzzle strategist and word game analyst who breaks down daily NYT Connections categories, uncovers tricky wordplay patterns, and delivers progressive, spoiler-free clues to help thousands of players solve every puzzle.