The NYT Connections puzzle #1202 for September 25, 2026 has four groups to uncover. Here are all the answers, plus hints if you want to work through it yourself before scrolling to the solution.
NYT Connections Hints – September 25, 2026
Hint for Yellow: Words that all mean the same thing as upscale or high-end.
Hint for Green: Parts found inside a mechanical clock or watch.
Hint for Blue: All four are last names of people named Dan.
Hint for Purple: Each word contains a taxonomic rank with one extra letter added somewhere.
NYT Connections Answers – September 25, 2026
Yellow – Fancy:
BOUGIE, FANCY, POSH, SWANK
Green – Clock Parts:
ESCAPEMENT, PENDULUM, RATCHET, SPRING
Blue – Famous Dans:
AYKROYD, LEVY, RATHER, SAVAGE
Purple – Taxonomic Rank + One Letter:
BORDER, CLASSY, FOAMILY, GENIUS
Explanation of Today’s Connections Groups
The yellow group is the most straightforward. BOUGIE, FANCY, POSH, and SWANK are all adjectives for something expensive or upscale. BOUGIE is the most contemporary of the four and the most likely to trip solvers who are looking for a more formal synonym.
Green catches out solvers who know one or two clock parts but not all four. ESCAPEMENT is the mechanism that regulates the release of the gear train; PENDULUM provides the timekeeping beat; RATCHET allows motion in one direction only; and SPRING stores the energy that drives the whole mechanism. All four are essential components of a traditional mechanical timepiece.
The blue group is straightforward once the Dan connection clicks. Dan AYKROYD (comedian and actor), Dan LEVY (Schitt’s Creek co-creator), Dan RATHER (news anchor), and Dan SAVAGE (advice columnist) share only their first name – which makes this group easy to confirm but hard to spot cold.
Purple is the trickiest group and the one most likely to cost solvers their streak. Each word hides a biological taxonomic rank with a single letter inserted: BORDER contains ORDER (b + ORDER), CLASSY contains CLASS (CLASS + y), FOAMILY contains FAMILY (f + O + AMILY), and GENIUS contains GENUS (GEN + I + US). The letter intrudes at a different position in each case, which is what makes the group so deceptive.
For the rest of today’s NYT Games, the Wordle answer for September 25 is live, and the NYT Strands answer for September 25 has the full solution for today’s playground theme.
