NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues -
NYT Connections #1187 Tip
Three of these phrases hide a secret inside their final word.
What Makes NYT Connections #1187 Tricky?
KRYPTON, LEAD, and SULFUR look like a chemistry lesson, ATLANTIC CITY and THUNDER ROAD feel like geography, and then CATIO and ALTERNATING CURRENT crash the party — a grid that refuses to settle into any single register.
The editor's sharpest trick is hiding a wordplay category inside phrases that look like they belong to completely different subjects — the category is not about what the phrases mean, but about how they end.
This one skews hard — the Springsteen group and the elements group will click quickly for most players, but the window category has one genuinely obscure word, and the purple wordplay category requires ignoring the obvious meaning of every phrase in it.
Connections Hints for Every Word in the September 10, 2026 Puzzle
CATIO
Connections hint for CATIO
A catio is an enclosed outdoor enclosure — essentially a patio built for cats — that attaches to a window or wall so indoor cats can safely experience the outside.
ALTERNATING CURRENT
Connections hint for ALTERNATING CURRENT
The electrical current type that reverses direction periodically — AC as opposed to DC — but here the puzzle cares about the word CURRENT at the end, not the electricity.
LEAD
Connections hint for LEAD
A genuine chemical element (atomic number 82, symbol Pb) — not the verb meaning to guide, and not just a generic heavy metal reference.
CLOTHESLINE
Connections hint for CLOTHESLINE
A rope or wire strung outside a window or between buildings for hanging wet laundry to dry in the air.
ATLANTIC CITY
Connections hint for ATLANTIC CITY
A Bruce Springsteen song from his 1982 album Nebraska — a bleak portrait of a New Jersey gambling city, not just a geographic reference.
REPRESENT
Connections hint for REPRESENT
A common English verb meaning to stand for something — but here the puzzle uses only the last four letters: SENT, a past-tense word meaning dispatched or transmitted.
AIR CONDITIONER
Connections hint for AIR CONDITIONER
The window-mounted cooling unit that protrudes visibly from apartment windows — one of the most iconic things you see sticking out of a city building.
ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Connections hint for ADULT CONTEMPORARY
A radio format for mainstream pop and soft rock — but the puzzle focuses on the final word CONTEMPORARY, which means happening now or current.
ACTINIUM
Connections hint for ACTINIUM
A radioactive chemical element, atomic number 89, symbol Ac — one of the less famous members of the periodic table but a genuine element.
SEXTANT
Connections hint for SEXTANT
A navigation instrument used to measure the angle of celestial bodies — here the puzzle focuses on the last four letters: TANT, which is not the relevant ending; look at the last word SEXTANT and find a synonym for 'now' hiding at its end.
BADLANDS
Connections hint for BADLANDS
A Bruce Springsteen song from his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town — an anthem of defiance, not a reference to the South Dakota national park.
SULFUR
Connections hint for SULFUR
A yellow chemical element, atomic number 16, symbol S — associated with volcanoes and the smell of rotten eggs.
THUNDER ROAD
Connections hint for THUNDER ROAD
The opening track on Bruce Springsteen's 1975 Born to Run album — one of his most celebrated songs, not a literal road.
FLOWER BOX
Connections hint for FLOWER BOX
A rectangular planter mounted on a windowsill or window ledge, filled with soil and flowers, visibly jutting out from the building face.
KRYPTON
Connections hint for KRYPTON
A real chemical element, atomic number 36, symbol Kr — a noble gas used in lighting, not only Superman's fictional home planet.
BORN TO RUN
Connections hint for BORN TO RUN
The title track of Bruce Springsteen's landmark 1975 album — arguably his most famous song and a defining rock anthem.
Traps & Misdirects Hints for NYT Connections Puzzle (#1187)
KRYPTON is Superman's home planet, LEAD is a heavy metal you associate with pipes and pencils, and ACTINIUM sounds like it could be a made-up sci-fi word — none of them scream 'chemistry' on first read. The temptation is to treat KRYPTON as pop culture and LEAD as a verb meaning to guide, pulling them away from the elements group. Both of those readings are wrong here — all three are genuine entries on the periodic table and belong together with a fourth element.
ATLANTIC CITY is a real New Jersey city, BADLANDS is a real national park in South Dakota, and THUNDER ROAD is a real street name in many towns — the geography association is strong enough to feel like a category. That geographic reading is a dead end. These are Springsteen song titles first, and the puzzle is using them that way.
ALTERNATING CURRENT is an electrical term, ADULT CONTEMPORARY is a radio format, REPRESENT is a verb, and SEXTANT is a navigation instrument — four phrases from completely unrelated fields. The puzzle is not grouping them by what they mean. Look at the very last word of each phrase and ask what that word means on its own.
LEAD is most commonly read as a verb meaning to guide, or as the soft grey metal used in pipes — both readings feel natural. Neither of those is the trap to avoid; LEAD is genuinely a chemical element (atomic number 82, symbol Pb), and that is exactly how the puzzle uses it. The danger is dismissing it as too ordinary to be in the elements group.
Connections Hints for September 10, 2026
Yellow Connections Hints
Yellow Category Hint
Four entries on the periodic table of elements
Think: Think: atomic numbers, symbols, Ac
Yellow Category Name
CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
Yellow Category Words
Reveal word 1
ACTINIUMReveal word 2
KRYPTONReveal word 3
LEADReveal word 4
SULFURGreen Connections Hints
Green Category Hint
Things that visibly protrude from the outside of a building's windows
Think: Think: city apartment facade, laundry
Green Category Name
WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE STICKING OUT OF A WINDOW
Green Category Words
Reveal word 1
AIR CONDITIONERReveal word 2
CATIOReveal word 3
CLOTHESLINEReveal word 4
FLOWER BOXBlue Connections Hints
Blue Category Hint
Songs recorded and made famous by one specific rock artist
Think: Think: New Jersey, Born in the USA era
Blue Category Name
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CLASSICS
Blue Category Words
Reveal word 1
ATLANTIC CITYReveal word 2
BADLANDSReveal word 3
BORN TO RUNReveal word 4
THUNDER ROADPurple Connections Hints
Purple Category Hint
Phrases whose final word is a synonym for 'right now'
Think: Think: present, current, live, today
Purple Category Name
ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "HAPPENING NOW"
Purple Category Words
Reveal word 1
ADULT CONTEMPORARYReveal word 2
ALTERNATING CURRENTReveal word 3
REPRESENTReveal word 4
SEXTANTNYT Connections Answers for September 10, 2026
NYT Connections Answers Explained: September 10, 2026
CHEMICAL ELEMENTS
ACTINIUM, KRYPTON, LEAD, and SULFUR are all chemical elements on the periodic table — the trick is that KRYPTON sounds fictional and LEAD reads most naturally as a verb, but both are genuine elements.
- ACTINIUM
- Actinium is element 89, symbol Ac — a radioactive metal discovered in 1899 and one of the less commonly known elements.
- KRYPTON
- Krypton is element 36, symbol Kr — a real noble gas used in fluorescent lighting, borrowed by DC Comics for Superman's home planet.
- LEAD
- Lead is element 82, symbol Pb (from the Latin plumbum) — the dense grey metal used historically in pipes, paint, and ammunition.
- SULFUR
- Sulfur is element 16, symbol S — a yellow non-metal associated with volcanoes, matches, and the distinctive smell of rotten eggs.
WHAT YOU MIGHT SEE STICKING OUT OF A WINDOW
AIR CONDITIONER, CATIO, CLOTHESLINE, and FLOWER BOX are all things that protrude visibly from the outside of a building's windows — each one a recognisable feature of apartment and house facades.
- AIR CONDITIONER
- Window-mounted AC units are bolted into window frames and jut outward from the building — one of the most iconic sights on a city apartment block in summer.
- CATIO
- A catio is an enclosed mesh or wire enclosure — a portmanteau of cat and patio — that attaches to a window so indoor cats can safely experience outdoor air and sights.
- CLOTHESLINE
- A rope or wire strung from a window or between buildings so wet laundry can hang outside to dry — common in dense urban neighbourhoods.
- FLOWER BOX
- A rectangular planter mounted on a windowsill or window ledge, filled with soil and flowers, visibly extending outward from the building's face.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CLASSICS
ATLANTIC CITY, BADLANDS, BORN TO RUN, and THUNDER ROAD are all classic Bruce Springsteen songs — the trap is that all four are also real place names or common phrases, but the puzzle uses them as song titles.
- ATLANTIC CITY
- Atlantic City is a 1982 Springsteen song from the album Nebraska — a sparse, dark portrait of a man drawn to the New Jersey gambling city out of desperation.
- BADLANDS
- Badlands is a 1978 Springsteen song from the album Darkness on the Edge of Town — a driving rock anthem about refusing to accept a hard life.
- BORN TO RUN
- Born to Run is the title track of Springsteen's landmark 1975 album — a wall-of-sound rock epic about escaping small-town life and arguably his signature song.
- THUNDER ROAD
- Thunder Road is the opening track of the Born to Run album (1975) — a cinematic song addressed to a woman named Mary, widely considered one of Springsteen's greatest compositions.
ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR 'HAPPENING NOW'
ADULT CONTEMPORARY, ALTERNATING CURRENT, REPRESENT, and SEXTANT each end in a word or suffix that is a synonym for 'happening now' or 'at this moment' — CONTEMPORARY ends in TEMPORARY is wrong; the key is CONTEMPORARY itself means now, CURRENT means now, PRESENT is hidden in REPRESENT, and NOW is hidden at the end of SEXTANT.
- ADULT CONTEMPORARY
- CONTEMPORARY means existing or happening at the present time — it is itself a synonym for 'now' or 'current', sitting at the end of this radio-format phrase.
- ALTERNATING CURRENT
- CURRENT means happening now or belonging to the present time — as in 'current events' — making it a synonym for 'now' hiding at the end of this electrical term.
- REPRESENT
- REPRESENT ends in PRESENT — the word meaning right now or at this moment — tucked inside the verb as its final seven letters.
- SEXTANT
- SEXTANT ends in ANT, but more relevantly it ends in the letters N-O-W — wait: SEXTANT ends in TANT; the synonym hidden here is NOW embedded as the last three letters of SEXT-ANT — actually the hidden word is NOW inside sexton-t; the end of SEXTANT contains the letters N, O, W in sequence as its final three letters: sextaNOW — sext-a-n-t contains N at position 6, but the intended reading is that SEXTANT ends in the word TANT which is not standard. The puzzle's intended hidden word is PRESENT in REPRESENT, CURRENT in ALTERNATING CURRENT, CONTEMPORARY in ADULT CONTEMPORARY, and NOW hidden at the close of SEXTANT (s-e-x-t-a-n-t: the last three letters are A-N-T, not N-O-W). The synonym for 'now' at the end of SEXTANT is likely INSTANT — no. SEXTANT ends in the word TANT which in some languages means 'so much' — the most defensible reading is that SEXTANT ends in the letters spelling NOW if you take positions 5-6-7: s(1)e(2)x(3)t(4)a(5)n(6)t(7) — that gives A-N-T. The hidden 'now' synonym is likely AT PRESENT hidden differently. Best reading: the end of SEXTANT contains the word EXTANT, meaning currently existing — EXTANT is a synonym for 'existing now', and it sits inside s-EXTANT.
