NYT Connections Answer

Welcome back to another daily puzzle breakdown! If you’re checking the calendar, today is September 23, 2026, and Wyna Liu has served up a Connections grid that feels like a mix of high-tech annoyances and low-tech household essentials.

Whether you’re one away from a win or just looking for a little nudge to save your streak, here is the NYT Connections hint and the full answer for 2026-09-23.

Today’s Connections Hints

Before we dive into the full reveal, let's look at the themes. Today’s puzzle ranges from things you physically touch every day to things that interrupt your digital browsing.

• Yellow: These are the items you check for when you do the "spectacles, testicles, wallet, and watch" pat-down (or the modern equivalent).
• Green: Digital roadblocks that make you prove you aren’t a robot or a freeloading reader.
• Blue: Everything here is found in a cylindrical metal container.
• Purple: This is a classic "ends in" category. Look at the last word (or part of the word) in each phrase and see if they share a common meaning.

Yellow: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE

These are the daily essentials. If you’ve ever had to turn the car around because you forgot one of these, this category probably felt like second nature.

• KEYS
• PHONE
• SUNGLASSES
• WALLET

Green: WEBSITE HURDLES

If you spend any time online, these are the four horsemen of the internet apocalypse. They are the pop-ups and barriers that stand between you and the content you actually want to see.

• AGE VERIFICATION
• CAPTCHA
• COOKIE CONSENT
• PAYWALL

Blue: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS

This group is quite literal. From the pantry to the garage to the bathroom, these items share the same pressurized or sealed metal home.

• CONDENSED MILK
• PAINT
• SHAVING CREAM
• SPAM

Purple: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM"

This was the "aha!" moment for today. Each of these words or phrases ends with a word that is a synonym for the verb "to term" (as in, to give something a name).

• BITCOIN (COIN)
• RECORD LABEL (LABEL)
• RUB-A-DUB (DUB)
• SURINAME (NAME)

The Full NYT Connections Answer for September 23, 2026

If you’re just here for the final results, here is the complete solution for today's puzzle:

• THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE: KEYS, PHONE, SUNGLASSES, WALLET
• WEBSITE HURDLES: AGE VERIFICATION, CAPTCHA, COOKIE CONSENT, PAYWALL
• THINGS THAT COME IN CANS: CONDENSED MILK, PAINT, SHAVING CREAM, SPAM
• ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM": BITCOIN, RECORD LABEL, RUB-A-DUB, SURINAME

My Strategy for Today

I started with Yellow immediately—KEYS, PHONE, and WALLET are such a classic trio. Green followed shortly after, as I’ve spent way too much time identifying traffic lights in a CAPTCHA lately.

Blue was a bit tricky because I initially thought SPAM might belong in a "junk mail" category, but once I saw CONDENSED MILK, the "Canned" theme clicked into place. Purple was the toughest, mostly because SURINAME is such a specific word, but identifying that COIN, LABEL, DUB, and NAME are all verbs for "terming" something brought it all home.

How did you do today? Did the purple category "dub" you a winner, or did a "paywall" stop your progress?

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you play NYT Connections?

In Connections, you are presented with a grid of 16 words. Your goal is to group them into four sets of four by finding a common thread between them. Each group is color-coded by difficulty: Yellow (easiest), Green, Blue, and Purple (hardest).

When does NYT Connections reset?

The New York Times releases a new Connections puzzle every day at midnight in your local time zone.

What do the colors mean in Connections?

The colors represent the complexity of the connection. Yellow is usually straightforward, while Purple often involves wordplay, puns, or hidden themes that require thinking outside the box.

Is there a limit to how many mistakes I can make?

Yes, you are allowed four mistakes. If you make a fourth mistake, the game ends and reveals the correct groupings to you.