NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1206) – Today's Puzzle, September 29
Today’s NYT Connections Tip
Four phrases are secretly smuggling Greek letters through English words.
Connections Hint for Each Word Today
Tap any word to see its Connections hint — what it means in today’s puzzle, no spoilers.
DELTA
DELTA Connections Hint
The fan-shaped deposit of sediment where a river meets the sea — also a Greek letter, but that is not what is happening here.
HIDDEN
HIDDEN Connections Hint
Out of sight, concealed — used here in its straightforward sense of being hard to find or access.
INSIDE
INSIDE Connections Hint
As a standalone word it means within something — here it is the opening word of a specific Pixar film title.
MODEL TANK
MODEL TANK Connections Hint
A scale replica of an armored military vehicle — but look carefully at the letters running across both words together.
The fan-shaped deposit of sediment where a river meets the sea — also a Greek letter, but that is not what is happening here.
MONSTERS
MONSTERS Connections Hint
Frightening creatures — here it is the first word of a Pixar film title, not a general description.
FINDING
FINDING Connections Hint
The act of locating something — here it is the opening word of a specific Pixar film title.
SECRET
SECRET Connections Hint
Known only to a few, deliberately kept from others — used here as a synonym for secluded or hidden away.
TOY
TOY Connections Hint
A plaything — here it is the first word of a Pixar film title, not a reference to the object itself.
FREEZE TAG
FREEZE TAG Connections Hint
A children's playground game where tagged players must stand still — contains a Greek letter hidden in its consecutive letters.
ORAL PHASE
ORAL PHASE Connections Hint
A term from developmental psychology for an early stage of infant development — contains a Greek letter hidden across the two words.
MOUTH
MOUTH Connections Hint
Where a river empties into a larger body of water — a standard river geography term, not a body-part reference here.
REMOTE
REMOTE Connections Hint
Far from populated areas, difficult to reach — used here as a synonym for secluded.
STREAM BED
STREAM BED Connections Hint
The floor of a river or stream channel — the surface over which water flows.
TUCKED AWAY
TUCKED AWAY Connections Hint
Hidden in a quiet or out-of-the-way place — a two-word phrase that means the same thing as the single-word synonyms nearby.
HOME GAME
HOME GAME Connections Hint
A sporting match played on a team's own ground — contains a Greek letter hidden in its consecutive letters.
DRAINAGE BASIN
DRAINAGE BASIN Connections Hint
The entire land area that drains into a single river system — also called a watershed or catchment area.
Today’s NYT Connections Hints for All Four Categories
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Yellow Connections Hint Today
Four ways to describe a place that is hard to find. Think: off the beaten path
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Green Connections Hint Today
Parts or features of a river system, named geographically. Think: where water flows and ends
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Blue Connections Hint Today
Single words that each open a title from the same animation studio. Think: one studio, many sequels
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Purple Connections Hint Today
Ordinary phrases with a Greek letter concealed in their letters. Think: spell it out, look inside
Traps & Misdirects Hints for Today’s Connections Puzzle
Today’s Connections puzzle includes words intentionally placed to misdirect you into wrong groups. These traps and misdirects hints reveal which words are designed to mislead, so you don’t burn your 4 allowed mistakes on deliberate decoys.
DELTA is a Greek letter and MOUTH is part of many phrases — it is tempting to pull these toward the hidden-Greek-letters group or toward some other cluster. Neither belongs there. Both are straightforward river geography terms used in their literal geographic sense.
These four words all precede common English nouns and could plausibly start all kinds of phrases — FINDING a solution, INSIDE a building, MONSTERS under the bed, TOY with an idea. That open-ended quality makes it easy to second-guess whether they really belong together. They do — but only if you know which specific franchise they all open.
REMOTE, HIDDEN, and SECRET all mean roughly the same thing — isolated, out of sight, not easily found — and it is natural to assume the fourth word in that group is a simple synonym too. That assumption is correct, but TUCKED AWAY is easy to overlook because it is a two-word phrase sitting among single words, and players sometimes discount it as a different kind of answer.
Today’s NYT Connections Answers
Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained
SECLUDED
HIDDEN, REMOTE, SECRET, and TUCKED AWAY all mean the same thing — a place or thing that is isolated, hard to reach, or deliberately out of sight.
- HIDDEN
- Concealed from view or knowledge — a hidden valley, a hidden door, something kept out of sight.
- REMOTE
- Far from towns or people, difficult to get to — a remote cabin, a remote island, a remote location.
- SECRET
- Known only to a few, kept from general awareness — a secret garden, a secret passage, a secret spot.
- TUCKED AWAY
- Nestled in a quiet or out-of-the-way place — a café tucked away down a side street, a village tucked away in the hills.
RIVER FEATURES
DELTA, DRAINAGE BASIN, MOUTH, and STREAM BED are all standard geographical terms for parts or features of a river system.
- DELTA
- The triangular or fan-shaped area of sediment deposited where a river splits and meets the sea — the Nile Delta is a famous example.
- DRAINAGE BASIN
- The entire area of land from which rainfall and water drain into a single river — also called a catchment area or watershed.
- MOUTH
- The point where a river empties into a larger body of water such as a sea or lake — the end of the river's journey.
- STREAM BED
- The bottom surface of a river or stream channel — the rocky or sandy floor over which the water flows.
FIRST WORDS OF PIXAR FILMS
FINDING, INSIDE, MONSTERS, and TOY are each the opening word of a Pixar animated film title — Finding Nemo, Inside Out, Monsters Inc, and Toy Story.
- FINDING
- The first word of Finding Nemo (2003), Pixar's film about a clownfish searching for his son across the ocean.
- INSIDE
- The first word of Inside Out (2015), Pixar's film set inside the mind of an eleven-year-old girl, personifying her emotions.
- MONSTERS
- The first word of Monsters, Inc. (2001), Pixar's film about a monster city powered by children's screams.
- TOY
- The first word of Toy Story (1995), Pixar's first feature film, about toys that come to life when humans are not watching.
PHRASES HIDING GREEK LETTERS
FREEZE TAG, HOME GAME, MODEL TANK, and ORAL PHASE each contain a Greek letter hidden in consecutive letters spanning the two words of the phrase.
- FREEZE TAG
- Contains ZETA — the Greek letter spelled Z-E-T-A appears across the end of FREEZE and the start of TAG: frEEZE TAg.
- HOME GAME
- Contains OMEGA — the Greek letter spelled O-M-E-G-A appears across the end of HOME and the start of GAME: hOMEGAme.
- MODEL TANK
- Contains DELTA — the Greek letter spelled D-E-L-T-A appears across the end of MODEL and the start of TANK: moDELTAnk.
- ORAL PHASE
- Contains ALPHA — the Greek letter spelled A-L-P-H-A appears across the end of ORAL and the start of PHASE: orALPHAse.
What Makes Today’s NYT Connections Puzzle Tricky?
Words like DELTA, MOUTH, REMOTE, and FINDING sit alongside multi-word phrases like FREEZE TAG, DRAINAGE BASIN, and ORAL PHASE — the grid mixes single words, compound geography terms, and casual phrases in a way that makes it hard to know what kind of answer you are even looking for.
The editor's main trick is that four of the phrases look completely ordinary but each one contains a Greek letter hidden inside its spelling — and nothing about the phrases signals that is what is happening.
This one skews harder than average — the Pixar group and the geography group both have plausible-looking impostors lurking nearby, and the hidden-letter group will likely need to be solved by elimination unless you spot the pattern early.
How to Use Connections Hints
Everyone playing NYT Connections puzzle gets stuck at a different point. Some players can’t figure out a single word. Others have three groups solved and can’t find the fourth. Where you are stuck determines which connection hint you need. So if you are stuck in today’s puzzle, find your situation in the sections below, use the recommended Connections hint, and continue solving. You don’t need to reveal more than what gets you past the point where you are stuck.
A word in the puzzle has an unfamiliar meaning
Some words in today’s NYT Connections puzzle are uncommon. Connections editor Wyna Liu often uses words with specific or less familiar meanings, particularly in the green, blue, and purple categories. If you don’t know what a word means, you cannot reliably place it in a group.
Use the Word Hint. It tells you what the word means in the context of today’s puzzle. Tap any word directly on the board above to see its hint. Each word opens a small card with its puzzle-specific connections hint.
No groups are forming after reading all sixteen words
The connection between words is often not obvious from their meanings alone — categories are built around themes that require a specific angle to see. These category-level clues are the most useful hints for connections that aren’t coming together from word meanings alone.
Use the Category Hint. It points you toward the theme of a category without revealing the category name or which words belong to it. In the All Hints section, tap “Yellow Category Hint” first. Read it before revealing anything else. Yellow is the easiest category by design.
You have a possible group but aren’t ready to guess
You think four words belong together but you’re not confident enough to guess. If you’re unsure, don’t guess yet — a wrong guess costs you one of your four mistakes.
Use the Category Name. It reveals the exact name of the category without showing you which words belong to it. If your group belongs to that category, guess with confidence. If it doesn’t, you’ve saved a mistake. In the All Hints section, tap “Yellow Category Name” — or whichever colour you are testing. The name appears immediately below the hint.
One word seems to fit more than one group
You have built a group of four words but one word in it could also fit somewhere else. NYT Connections editor Wyna Liu deliberately places misleading words on the board that seem to fit multiple categories. These are the most common source of wrong guesses in today’s connections puzzle.
Use the Traps and Misdirects Hints. It identifies the specific misleading words in today’s puzzle and explains why they don’t belong where you think they do. Go to the Traps and Misdirects section and look for the word that is bothering you.
You know the category but can’t find all four words
You have identified the theme of a category but can’t find all four words that belong to it.
Use the Word Reveal. It uncovers one masked word at a time without revealing the full group. This is the most precise connection hint available — it gives you exactly one word without touching the rest of the puzzle. In the All Hints section, find the colour category you have identified. Tap “Category Words” to open the reveal panel, then tap “Reveal word 1” — one word at a time until your group is complete.
One mistake left with two groups unsolved
You have one mistake remaining and two groups unsolved. If you guess wrong here, the game ends and NYT reveals all the answers automatically.
Do not guess yet. Use the Category Name for both remaining groups first. If the category names still don’t resolve it, use the Word Reveal to uncover one or two words causing the split. In the All Hints section, tap the Category Name for both remaining colours. If that is still not enough, tap “Category Words” and reveal one word at a time until the correct split is clear.
You want today’s answers without solving the puzzle
Use the Answers section. It shows all four category names and the four words that belong to each one. Go to the Answers section.
The puzzle is over but a category still doesn’t make sense
You can see the four groups and their words but the connection between them isn’t clear.
Use the Answer Explanation. It tells you exactly what connects the words in each category and why each individual word belongs there. This is particularly useful for the purple category, where the connection is almost never straightforward. Go to the Answer Explanation section.
