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#1191

NYT Connections hints & answer

Connections gives you 16 words to sort into four hidden groups of four, ranked from easiest (yellow) to trickiest (purple). Four wrong guesses end the puzzle — and many words look like they fit more than one category on purpose.

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✅ Updated today · September 14, 2026

Compiled by the AAH7 Editorial Team · checked against the sources below · last checked September 14, 2026 · how we test

Hints — one at a time

Hint 1 of 5

Today's board moves from birds that live near water, to slang terms for someone who tells on others, to disposable plastic items you'd get with takeout, and finally to words that pair with "grass."

Hint 2 of 5

Yellow (easiest): each of these is a type of bird commonly found on lakes or ponds.

Hint 3 of 5

Green: each of these is slang for someone who rats out others to authorities.

Hint 4 of 5

Blue: each of these is a single-use plastic item commonly found in takeout orders.

Hint 5 of 5

Purple (hardest): each of these word combines with "grass" to form a compound word or phrase.

The answer — spoilers!

Reveal the full answer

  • yellow

    Waterbirds

    COOT · GOOSE · LOON · TEAL

  • green

    Informant

    CANARY · RAT · SNITCH · STOOLIE

  • blue

    Common Single-Use Plastic Items

    BAG · CUTLERY · STIRRER · STRAW

  • purple

    ___Grass

    BLUE · CRAB · LEMON · WHEAT

A solved Connections-style board: sixteen word tiles sorted into four coloured rows of four — fruits, gemstones, instruments and planets
A solved Connections grid: four groups of four, one colour each. Example board, not today’s puzzle.

FAQ

Is this the NYT Connections answer for today?

Yes — this page always shows our latest NYT Connections entry (#1191), dated 2026-09-14, and it updates every morning. Earlier days are archived and linked below.

Are the hints spoiler-safe?

Hints are progressive and hidden behind a tap — open them one at a time and stop as soon as you've got enough. The full answer stays hidden until you open it separately.

How do you make sure the answer is correct?

We cross-check every daily answer against at least two independently published sources before publishing — see how we test for the full process.

Previous days

Want the strategy, not just today's answer? Read our NYT Connections strategy guide.