If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Tuesday, September 12, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 12, NYT Connections #93! Scroll to the end if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
By the way, if you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints. Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?
Nope, nothing that’s not common knowledge. The only slightly unusual word is CHAI, a tea that’s often brewed with sweet spices.
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
Yellow category - These would all be at home in a mug.
Green category - These would all be at home in a barnyard.
Blue category - Don’t go barking up the wrong tree.
Purple category - Yeah, wouldn’t you like to know.
Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?
Nope, just the usual ambiguity of words that could belong to multiple categories.
Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit farther down.)
What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?
BUZZ can be the sound a bee makes, the excitement of a crowd, a short hairstyle, or what you get from your morning cup of coffee.
TEA can be gossip or, you know, tea.
BARK is the noise a dog makes, but it’s also part of a tree.
DISH can be a plate or a mug, but you could also DISH the DIRT when you’re sharing TEA (either type).
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
Yellow: HOT DRINKS
Green: ANIMAL SOUNDS
Blue: TREE FEATURES
Purple: INSIDE INFO
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is HOT DRINKS and the words are: CHAI, COCOA, COFFEE, TEA.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is ANIMAL SOUNDS and the words are: BUZZ, CLUCK, MEOW, OINK.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is TREE FEATURES and the words are: BARK, BRANCH, ROOT, TRUNK.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is INSIDE INFO and the words are: DIRT, DISH, SCOOP, SKINNY.
How I solved today’s Connections
The DIRT, the TEA, the BUZZ, the DISH. Words for gossip, right? Wrong. I swapped out BUZZ for SCOOP, but no dice there either.
All right. Work on something else. I had four words relating to trees: BARK, TRUNK, BRANCH, ROOT. Then only four things that could be animal noises: MEOW, OINK, CLUCK, BUZZ. At this point I had two categories solved, and two mistakes already.
Gossip could also be “the SKINNY,” but I was still not sure what to group it with...unless TEA means the actual beverage? Yep, that’s it. TEA, COFFEE, COCOA, and CHAI go together, and while you drink them, you could give somebody the DIRT, the DISH, the SCOOP, the SKINNY.
Connections Puzzle #93 🟪🟨🟩🟪 🟪🟨🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪