Connections Forbes 2026: Best Hints & Clues Guide

Connections Forbes refers to the daily hints-and-answers columns that Forbes contributors write for the New York Times Connections puzzle. Each column helps you sort 16 words into four groups.

The best part is the ladder. Forbes reveals help in stages. You can take a nudge without losing the thrill of solving.

Below, you’ll find the hint ladder, difficulty colors, common category types, and strategies that protect your daily streak. Read on to solve smarter.

Today’s NYT Connections Hints and Clues

Every day brings a fresh Connections puzzle and a fresh set of hints. A printed guide can’t hold live answers, because they’d go stale at midnight. So this section shows you where to find them and how to use them.

Puzzle Number, Date, and Where to Find Forbes Hints

Connections today is numbered. Monday, September 28, 2026 was puzzle #1,205. Forbes uses the same number in its addresses. The September 28 column ends in 1205.

Notice the date in that link. It reads September 27. Forbes typically posts a puzzle’s column the evening before its date. Readers in earlier time zones can therefore solve with help before their day even starts.

The Forbes Hint Ladder

The Forbes puzzle coverage works like a staircase. According to the column itself, you get a hint for each category first, then one word from each group, then the category names, then the full answers. That structure makes spoiler-free hints possible.

Level	What you get	Spoiler risk	Use it when
Level 1	A general hint about the whole board	Very low	You want a gentle nudge
Level 2	A category hint for each color	Low	One group is still hidden
Level 3	One starter word per group	Medium	You’re stuck on which words belong
Level 4	The category names	High	You’ve made two mistakes
Level 5	Complete answers	Total	You’re finished or out of guesses

Today’s Red Herrings

Every daily word puzzle hides red herrings. These are decoy words that fit two groups at once. You’ll find them by scanning for one word with two jobs. “Grant,” for example, can mean a gift, a name, or a verb of permission. connections forbes

Forbes also publishes a separate Answers Explained column. It explains how the answers and red herrings fit together. Read it after you finish. It works like a coach reviewing game film.

How Connections Works

Before we get into solving tips, let’s cover the basics. Skip ahead if you already play daily.

The 16-Word Grid and the Four Hidden Groups

Connections is a word association puzzle. You see a four-by-four word grid. The grid holds 16 entries, which are usually words but sometimes phrases, symbols, or numbers. Your job is to sort them into groups of four. Each group shares a hidden category theme.

The puzzle tells you nothing about the themes. You discover them yourself.

Rules That Shape Strategy

The rules are simple. Their consequences aren’t.

• Four mistakes allowed. A fourth wrong guess ends the game.
• “One away” feedback. This message means three of your four words belong together.
• Shuffle. The shuffle button rearranges the grid. It can help you spot a link.
• One solution. Only one correct arrangement exists.
• Daily limit. The timer resets at midnight.
• Results grid. You finish with a colored summary. You can share it.

The game is free. You can play on the NYT website or in the Games app.

Who Publishes the Puzzle and Who Writes the Hints

The New York Times Games team produces Connections. It began at an annual internal event. According to NYU’s alumni profile, Connections came from the Times’ Game Jam, where staff pitches new game ideas. That same profile says editor Wyna Liu has been a puzzle editor at the Times since 2020. Liu recalled, “I had never had my own game.” Then Connections arrived. connections forbes

Forbes doesn’t make the puzzle. The Forbes contributors write independent coverage. Forbes states that contributors publish their own analyses and insights. Kris Holt writes the main daily hints column. He covers video games and word games. Paul Tassi also writes on it. Tassi calls Connections the second-most popular NYT Games puzzle after the main crossword.

Connections Difficulty Colors Explained

Every group wears a color. The color signals Connections difficulty. Yellow is usually easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. connections forbes

Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple Compared

Color	Typical difficulty	Usual category type	Real example
Yellow category	Easiest	Direct synonyms or simple sets	“Gossip” (dish)
Green category	Moderate	Themed sets or common contexts	“Seen at a wedding” (cake)
Blue category	Challenging	Looser links or specialist knowledge	“Team” (crew)
Purple category	Hardest	Wordplay or hidden patterns	“Musicals plus starting letter” (Brent)

Those examples come from puzzle #849, published on Yahoo Tech. Notice how “Brent” only works after you add a letter to make “Rent.” That’s classic purple thinking.

Why Difficulty Is Subjective

The colors describe the editor’s intent. They don’t describe your experience. A sports fan may breeze through a purple sports group. A movie buff may crush a purple film group. Treat the colors as a rough map. Don’t treat them as law.

Solve by Certainty, Not by Color

Beginners often chase yellow first. That’s reasonable. Still, solving order should follow certainty. If you know your blue group cold, submit it. Removing four words shrinks the grid and clears the fog.

Common Connections Categories and Category Types

Learning category types is the best long-term investment you can make. Editors reuse a small toolkit. Once you know it, patterns pop out faster.

Synonyms and Related Words

These are the friendliest groups. Four words share similar meanings. Puzzle #867 had a yellow group of swindles with “hustle” in it. It also had a blue group of “confer” verbs containing “grant.” The full board is on Yahoo Tech.

Wordplay: Hidden Words, Homophones, and Added Letters

Wordplay hides in spelling patterns and sound patterns. Look for these:

• A hidden smaller word inside each entry
• Homophones (words that sound alike)
• A missing or extra first letter
• Words that become new words when reversed

The “Brent” example fits here. Add or remove one letter and the theme appears.

Words That Follow or Precede a Common Term

Think “fill in the blank.” Four entries might all pair with “ball” or “light.” These groups rely on shared prefixes, shared suffixes, or shared terms. Try mentally attaching a common word to each candidate.

Proper Nouns, Brands, and Pop Culture References

Some categories need cultural references. These include music references, movie references, sports references, and historical references. Puzzle #867 had a purple group of Best Actor-winning biopics. “Milk” belonged there. Without film knowledge, you’d guess dairy.

Watch for proper nouns disguised as ordinary words. Capital letters aren’t always visible in the grid.

Multiple-Meaning Words

Every double-meaning word is a potential trap. “Dish” means gossip, food, or a satellite receiver. Editors love these because they create misleading connections. Test each word for alternate meanings before you commit.

Category type	What to check	Example from real puzzles
Synonyms	Dictionary-style matches	Hustle, swindle
Wordplay	Letters, sounds, hidden words	Brent (B + Rent)
Fill-in-the-blank	A shared partner word	___ ball
Pop culture	Titles, names, brands	Milk (film title)
Multiple meanings	Secondary definitions	Dish, grant

Step-by-Step Strategy to Solve Connections

Want to solve Connections faster? Follow this Connections strategy. It’s built around the game’s actual rules.

1. Scan all 16 words first. Don’t click anything yet.
2. Mark words with two meanings. These are your likely decoys.
3. Find the group with the fewest candidates. A tight set beats a loose one.
4. Confirm four, not three. Have a fourth word ready before you submit.
5. Submit the safest group. Progress shrinks the board.
6. Shuffle when you’re stuck. A fresh layout breaks fixed patterns.
7. Use “one away” wisely. Swap only one word.
8. Finish by elimination. When two groups remain, logic often solves them.

Scan Before You Guess

Reading the whole board is a habit worth building. Your first glance often locks onto the wrong theme. A calm scan catches red herring words early.

Find Words That Fit More Than One Group

Here’s a quick test. If five words fit one theme, one of them belongs elsewhere. That extra word is your clue. Find its other meaning, and you’ve probably found another group.

Lock the Tightest Group First

Suppose you spot only four possible “___ ball” words. Submit them. Compare that with a loose “things that are round” idea. The tight set is the strong connection. The loose set is a weak connection.

Use the Shuffle Button

Grids get visually cluttered. Visual clutter hides links. Shuffling gives your brain a new layout. Use it freely. It costs nothing.

When to Start With Purple

Experts sometimes start with purple. That works when you spot a wordplay pattern early. Purple often holds the odd words. Once you solve it, the leftover words fall into cleaner groups.

Solving by Elimination With Two Groups Left

With eight words left, list what each pair of groups needs. Often one word can only fit one theme. Place it, and the rest follow. This is where critical thinking pays off.

Common Connections Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Most losses trace back to a few habits. Here they are with fixes.

Mistake	Why it happens	Fix
Guessing too early	Excitement about a pattern	Confirm all four words first
Ignoring alternate meanings	Tunnel vision	List two meanings for each odd word
Overlooking wordplay	You read words only as definitions	Check letters and sounds
Forgetting proper nouns	Names look like ordinary words	Ask “is this a person, place, or brand?”
Burning mistakes on random guessing	Panic after a wrong try	Pause and re-read the grid

Committing to the First Obvious Group

An obvious group feels safe. Sometimes it’s a trap. Five candidates usually means one is a decoy. Count before you click.

Ignoring Secondary Meanings

Puzzle designers count on this. The slang meanings and alternate definitions are where the fun hides.

Burning Mistakes on Guesses Instead of Logic

You have four chances. Treat them as a budget. Spend the first on a strong hypothesis. Save the last two for the endgame.

Playing Under Streak Pressure

A daily streak creates stress. Stress fuels puzzle mistakes. If a streak is on the line, slow down. A calm pause beats a fast loss. connections forbes

One more note. As Tassi observed, an unknown word can wreck a board because three words don’t make a group. When that happens, use the other groups to find the fourth.

How to Use Hints Without Spoiling Your Streak

Hints aren’t cheating. They’re training wheels. Use them well, and you’ll need them less.

A Simple Escalation Method

Follow this spoiler-free routine:

1. Play alone for five minutes.
2. Read only the general hint.
3. Try again.
4. Read one category hint.
5. Try again.
6. Reveal category names only if you have one mistake left.
7. Read the final answers after you finish.

That last step matters. The Forbes explainer works best as a postgame review.

Playing for the Streak vs. Playing for Fun

Decide your goal before you start. Streak players may use hints freely. Fun players may prefer struggle. Neither approach is wrong. Just pick one on purpose.

Past Puzzle Answers and the Connections Archive

Missed a day? You can catch up.

Recent Puzzles

Forbes posts daily columns with dated addresses. Each address ends in the puzzle number. Puzzle #1,199 covered Tuesday, September 22. Puzzle #1,202 covered Friday, September 25. You can walk backward from any number. connections forbes

Finding Any Previous Puzzle

The official archive requires a paid plan. According to Forbes, an NYT All Access or Games subscription unlocks the Connections archive with every earlier game. Free players still get the current puzzle.

Connections vs. Other Word Games

Many players juggle several NYT Games each morning. Here’s how they compare.

Game	Core skill	What you do	Daily feel
Connections	Categorizing	Sort 16 words into four groups	Deductive and tricky
Wordle	Deduction	Guess a five-letter word in six tries	Quick and focused
Strands	Themed search	Find hidden words in a letter grid	Exploratory
Spelling Bee	Vocabulary	Build words from seven letters	Open-ended

Connections Sports Edition

A sports spinoff exists. It came from The Athletic and NYT Games. Wikipedia reports it officially launched on February 9, 2025, timed to Super Bowl LIX. The same source says editor Mark Cooper tries to include one trivia-based category in each game. Expect more knowledge and less pure wordplay.

Connections Bot and Analysis Tools

Finished the puzzle? There’s a review tool. One report describes a Connections Bot that gives a numeric score and analyzes your answers. That same report says registered players can track completed puzzles, win rate, perfect scores, and streaks. Treat this as secondary reporting and check the NYT Games app for the current feature set. connections forbes

Using Your Results to Improve

Study your results grid. Did you lose mistakes on the same kind of category? Maybe proper nouns trip you up. Maybe wordplay does. Practice that weakness. Improvement comes from pattern review.

Conclusion

Connections rewards patience more than raw vocabulary. Scan first. Spot the decoys. Lock in your tightest group.

Use Forbes hints in layers so you keep the fun. Do that for a few weeks, and you’ll notice something. Purple groups start feeling less like magic and more like a puzzle you can read.

FAQs

What time does Connections reset?

The puzzle resets at midnight. A new board appears then.

Is Connections free to play?

Yes. The game is free on the NYT site and app. Only the archive needs a subscription.

How many mistakes can you make?

You can make three and survive. The fourth wrong guess ends the game.

Are the answers the same for everyone?

Yes. Everyone sees one puzzle and one correct solution.

How is the color order decided?

The editors set it based on intended difficulty. Your own experience may differ.

Can you play past puzzles?

Yes, with an NYT All Access or Games subscription.