NYT Connections Answer

Welcome, puzzle fans! If you’re here, you might be scratching your head over a few tricky overlaps in today’s grid. The NYT Connections for September 20, 2026, offers a delightful mix of Southern charm, cinematic history, and everyday shapes.

Whether you are looking for a gentle nudge or the full answer for 2026-09-20, I’ve got you covered. Let’s dive into today’s groupings and see how they stack up.

Today's Hints

Before we reveal the categories, here are a few clues to get your brain moving:

• Yellow Category: Think about the physical shape of these items if you laid them on a table.
• Green Category: These four words all share a common geographic home in the Southern United States.
• Blue Category: Horror fans will recognize these titles instantly.
• Purple Category: Each of these words is the first half of a type of equipment used for extreme (or not-so-extreme) sports.

Connections Group Results

Yellow: Round Flat Things

These items are all defined by their circular, thin geometry. Whether you’re watching a movie or protecting your coffee table, these are all distinctly "disc-like."

• BLU-RAY
• COASTER
• SAND DOLLAR
• TORTILLA

Green: Associated with Kentucky

This group is a tribute to the Bluegrass State. From its famous exports to its most legendary horse race, these are icons of Kentucky culture.

• BLUEGRASS
• BOURBON
• DERBY
• FRIED CHICKEN

Blue: Vampire Movies

If you’re a fan of the undead, this category likely jumped out at you. While Twilight and Blade are household names, Near Dark is a 1980s cult classic, and Sinners is the more recent addition to the vampire canon.

• BLADE
• NEAR DARK
• SINNERS
• TWILIGHT

Purple: ___ Boards You Ride On

The "fill-in-the-blank" category today focuses on things you stand on to move. Just add "board" to the end of each word to find the connection.

• HOVER (Hoverboard)
• SKATE (Skateboard)
• SNOW (Snowboard)
• SURF (Surfboard)

Difficulty Review

Today’s puzzle had a medium difficulty curve. The Yellow group was fairly intuitive, though some might have initially tried to put "Blu-ray" in a movie-themed category. The Green group was a classic "regional association" set that felt very cohesive.

The trickiest part of the NYT Connections hint today was the Blue group. If you aren't a cinephile, Sinners and Near Dark might have been hard to place. However, by solving the Purple group (the board-sports), the remaining vampire movies usually fall into place by process of elimination.

How to Solve Tomorrow’s Puzzle

Always look for words that could fit into multiple categories. Today, "Bluegrass" and "Blu-ray" both started with "Blue," which is a common red herring tactic used by Wyna Liu. Try to find four words that only work together before locking in your first guess!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is a daily word game from The New York Times where players must group 16 words into four categories of four based on a common link.

When does the NYT Connections reset?

The puzzle resets daily at midnight in your local time zone.

What do the colors mean in Connections?

The colors represent the difficulty levels:

• Yellow: Straightforward/Easiest
• Green: Intermediate
• Blue: Challenging
• Purple: Tricky/Abstract (often wordplay or fill-in-the-blanks)

Is there always a "trick" in the purple category?

Usually, yes! Purple often involves puns, homophones, or adding a specific word to the beginning or end of the four words to create a new phrase.