Sunday’s Connections puzzle is a gentle one, and if you’re short on time, here’s the quick version: today’s four groups are Sculpture Media, Restaurant Seating Options, Telecom, and a tricky wordplay category built around Chinese dynasties.
If you want to solve it yourself first, scroll down slowly. The hints come before the full answers, so you can stop whenever you’ve seen enough.
Connections is the New York Times’ daily word-grouping game, created by crossword editor Wyna Liu. Every puzzle gives you 16 words and asks you to sort them into four hidden groups of four. The catch is that the words are designed to trick you into wrong pairings before you spot the real pattern. Want to play the game? Here it is.
Today’s Connections Hints
Here are four gentle nudges, from easiest to hardest:
- Yellow: Materials sculptors work with.
- Green: Where you’d sit down to eat.
- Blue: Words tied to your phone plan.
- Purple: Look closely at how each word ends.
If you’re still stuck after that, the full breakdown is below.
NYT Connections Answers Today
Yellow Group: Sculpture Media
Bronze, Clay, Marble, Plaster
This is the easiest group in today’s grid, and it should be your starting point. All four words describe materials artists use to make sculptures, and none of them have an obvious second meaning that overlaps with the other categories.
Green Group: Restaurant Seating Options
Banquette, Booth, Chair, Stool
This one rewards knowing your restaurant vocabulary. A banquette is that long upholstered bench seat you often see against a wall, while a booth is the classic diner-style setup. Chair and stool round out the group as more familiar seating types.
Blue Group: Telecom
Carrier, Network, Operator, Provider
These four words all describe the company that handles your phone or internet service. The tricky part is that “carrier” and “network” can also show up in other contexts, like transportation or television, so don’t lock them in too fast.
Purple Group: Ending in Chinese Dynasties
BBQing, Homing, Lohan, Wu-Tang
This is the wordplay twist that makes Connections fun, and it’s the one most players got stuck on today. Each word hides a Chinese dynasty at the end:
BBQing → Qing
Homing → Ming
Lohan → Han
Wu-Tang → Tang
The purple group is usually the hardest in any Connections puzzle, and today’s is a great example of why. Words like “clay” (as in clay pigeons) or “homing” (as in homing pigeons) can lure you toward a fake bird-related category before the real dynasty pattern clicks.
Quick Connection Answers At A Glance
- Yellow Group: Sculpture Media – BRONZE, CLAY, MARBLE, PLASTER
- Green Group: Restaurant Seating Options – BANQUETTE, BOOTH, CHAIR, STOOL
- Blue Group: Telecom – CARRIER, NETWORK, OPERATOR, PROVIDER
- Purple Group: Ending in Chinese Dynasties – BBQING, HOMING, LOHAN, WU-TANG
Why Today’s Puzzle Ranks Low on the Difficulty Scale
According to the Connections Bot difficulty tracker, today’s puzzle scored a 1 out of 5, making it one of the easier entries in recent weeks. Most of the misdirection comes from the purple group, since the other three categories are fairly literal once you read them closely.
What Is NYT Connections?
Connections launched from the New York Times in 2023 and has since become one of the publisher’s most played daily games, alongside Wordle and the Mini Crossword. Each puzzle drops at midnight ET, and a new one appears every day without exception.
The core rule stays the same daily: find four groups of four related words. Categories are color-coded by difficulty, with yellow being the most straightforward and purple usually involving puns, hidden words, or double meanings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How many mistakes can you make in Connections?
A. You get four mistakes before the puzzle locks you out for the day, so it pays to start with the group you’re most confident about.
Q. What time does a new Connections puzzle come out?
A. A fresh puzzle goes live every day at midnight Eastern Time, matching the same schedule as Wordle.
Q. Is today’s Connections puzzle hard?
A. Not really. Puzzle #1204 for September 27, 2026, rated a 1 out of 5 on the Connections Bot difficulty scale, making it one of the easier recent entries.
Final Thoughts
Today’s Connections puzzle leans easy, but that purple dynasty wordplay is a nice reminder of why this game keeps players coming back daily. If you got tripped up looking for pigeons instead of dynasties, you’re definitely not alone.
Check back with GamerUrge every day for fresh NYT Connections hints and answers, along with the latest gaming news, guides, and puzzle help you need to keep your streak alive.
