Stuck on today’s NYT Connections puzzle? You’re definitely not the only one. Puzzle #1182 comes with plenty of traps, especially if you start grouping words together just because they sound or look similar.
If you’re only here for the answers, you’ll find the full solution below. Want to solve it yourself first? Start with the hints and see how far you can get without spoiling the grid.
What Is NYT Connections?
Connections is The New York Times’ daily word puzzle where you’re given 16 words and have to split them into four groups of four. Every group has a hidden connection, but the game is designed to make several words look like they belong together.
The groups are also color-coded by difficulty. Yellow is generally the easiest, followed by green and blue, while purple tends to be the biggest headache.
You get just four incorrect guesses before the puzzle ends, so rushing into a group can quickly ruin an otherwise good solve.
Today’s grid definitely took advantage of that.
Today’s Connections Hints for September 5, 2026
Need a little help without seeing the answers? Here are some clues for each group:
- Yellow: Words for moving or standing in an unsteady way
- Green: Sounds made by different birds
- Blue: Each word can come before the same body part
- Purple: Think of desserts, then remove the final letter
Still stuck? Keep reading for the complete answers.
NYT Connections Answers Today
Here’s the full solution for Connections puzzle #1182.
Yellow Group: Move Unsteadily
SWAY, TODDLE, TOTTER, WOBBLE
These words all describe some form of unsteady movement. Whether someone is wobbling, toddling, tottering, or swaying, the common idea is that they aren’t moving in a particularly stable way.
Green Group: Bird Onomatopoeia
COO, GOBBLE, HONK, WARBLE
These are sounds associated with birds. COO brings pigeons and doves to mind, while GOBBLE points toward turkeys. HONK can be associated with geese, and WARBLE describes the musical sound of certain birds.
Blue Group: ___Head
BOBBLE, HAMMER, JUG, SLEEPY
Add HEAD to the end of each word and you get:
Bobblehead
Hammerhead
Jughead
Sleepyhead
This is one of those groups that’s easy to miss if you’re focused only on the individual words.
Purple Group: Desserts Minus the Last Letter
COBBLE, PIT, TAR, TORT
This is the wordplay-heavy group. Each answer points toward a dessert when the missing final letter is restored:
COBBLE = COBBLER
PIT = PITA
TAR = TART
TORT = TORTE
The purple category is usually where Connections gets sneaky, and this one certainly fits the bill.
Quick Answer Recap
Yellow Group: Move Unsteadily
SWAY, TODDLE, TOTTER, WOBBLE
Green Group: Bird Onomatopoeia
COO, GOBBLE, HONK, WARBLE
Blue Group: ___Head
BOBBLE, HAMMER, JUG, SLEEPY
Purple Group: Desserts Minus the Last Letter
COBBLE, PIT, TAR, TORT
Why Today’s Connections Puzzle Was Tricky
The biggest trap in today’s grid was the collection of similar-looking words.
BOBBLE, COBBLE, GOBBLE, and WOBBLE practically beg to be grouped together. They rhyme, look nearly identical, and differ by only a letter or two. That’s exactly why they’re so effective as decoys.
But each one has a different destination.
WOBBLE belongs in the yellow group because it describes unsteady movement. GOBBLE is a bird sound and fits the green group. COBBLE belongs to the purple wordplay category, while BOBBLE goes into the blue group with HAMMER, JUG, and SLEEPY.
HONK is another sneaky one. Your first thought might be a car horn, but in this puzzle it belongs with bird noises such as COO and WARBLE.
The purple group is where the puzzle really asks you to think differently. Instead of looking for words that directly describe desserts, you have to recognize altered versions of dessert names.
Once the pattern becomes clear, the group feels much easier. Getting there is the hard part.
How to Get Better at NYT Connections
If today’s puzzle caught you off guard, a few habits can make future grids easier:
- Be suspicious of obvious groups. If four words look almost too perfect together, they could be a deliberate decoy.
- Look for wordplay. Words may be shortened, modified, or combined with another word to create the real connection.
- Consider multiple meanings. A word like HONK can refer to more than one thing depending on the category.
- Don’t rush your guesses. You only get four mistakes, so take a moment to test a group against the rest of the grid.
- Leave tricky groups for later. If one category feels uncertain, move on and return to it after eliminating other possibilities.
Final Thoughts
Connections #1182 was a good reminder that the words that look most alike aren’t necessarily meant to go together.
The BOBBLE, COBBLE, GOBBLE, and WOBBLE combination was particularly nasty, while the bird sounds and dessert wordplay added another layer of misdirection. If you fell for one of those traps, you were definitely not alone.
Come back tomorrow for another fresh Connections puzzle, and follow GamerUrge for daily Connections answers, gaming news, guides, and more.
