Today’s NYT Connections puzzle (#1201) is a mixed bag of difficulty levels. The yellow group should fall quickly, but the purple category requires a lateral leap most players will not see coming. Three hints appear below before the full solution.
NYT Connections Hints for September 24, 2026
Hint 1 (Yellow): Think Halloween – specifically things you might wear or apply on your face for a costume.
Hint 2 (Blue): Look for a common physical gesture these four things all reference or depict. A famous painting, a sports prop, a novelty shirt, and a national icon walk into a bar.
Hint 3 (Purple): The four answers are all anagrams of the same word. Say each one aloud slowly.
NYT Connections Answers for September 24, 2026
Here are all four groups for NYT Connections puzzle #1201:
Yellow – Halloween Costume Accessories:
CAPE, FACE PAINT, FAKE BLOOD, FANGS
Green – Things with Springs:
BOBBLEHEAD, POGO STICK, SNAKES IN A CAN, TRAMPOLINE
Blue – ___ Pointing at You:
CREATION OF ADAM, FOAM FINGER, I’M WITH STUPID SHIRT, UNCLE SAM
Purple – Anagrams of BREATHE:
BEER HAT, BREATHE, HERB TEA, THE BEAR
The yellow group is the clean gimme today. CAPE, FACE PAINT, FAKE BLOOD, and FANGS are all standard Halloween costume components with no real ambiguity.
Green is where the puzzle finds its first trap. TRAMPOLINE appears in both the green and the Strands puzzle this week – but here it belongs with the spring-loaded items: BOBBLEHEAD, POGO STICK, and SNAKES IN A CAN all rely on a coiled spring to do their thing.
Blue asks you to picture each item pointing directly at the viewer. The Sistine Chapel’s CREATION OF ADAM has God’s outstretched finger. The FOAM FINGER points skyward from the stands. The I’M WITH STUPID SHIRT has an arrow aimed sideways. And UNCLE SAM’s recruitment poster has his finger aimed squarely at you.
Purple is the standout this week. BEER HAT, HERB TEA, THE BEAR, and BREATHE are all seven-letter anagrams of each other – every one of them rearranges to spell BREATHE. It is the kind of wordplay category that looks impossible until the penny drops, at which point it looks completely obvious.
If you are playing the full NYT Games suite today, the NYT Strands answer for September 24 is also live, along with the Wordle answer for September 24 and the NYT Mini Crossword answers for September 24.
