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Today’s NYT Connections Hints and Answers for Sept. 19, #1196

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Looking for the most recent NYT Connections puzzle answers? CNET publishes daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

In Connections, you look at a grid of 16 words and pick four words that have a connection to each other. You do this four times until all 16 words in the puzzle are grouped. The tough part is that Times associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu chooses words that could fit in multiple groups. The obvious guess — hey! Those are four animals! — is almost always going to be wrong. I’ve compiled my favorite tips for Connections if you need a boost.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle was a little tricky, I thought. Let’s hope you remember your high school math terms. I do love the era depicted in the blue group, so that was a fun one. For the purple group, however, I wonder if anyone in the US uses the term “cos lettuce.” (Is this another “sausage dog” situation?) Read on for hints and today’s Connections answers.

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Think more broadly.

Green group hint: Often made with crayons.

Blue group hint: Place to be in 1966.

Purple group hint: I was told there would be no math.

Read moreWe Need to Talk About That Doggone Connections Puzzle

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Widen one’s scope.

Green group: Features of a kid’s drawing.

Blue group: Associated with swinging London in the 1960s.

Purple group: Starting with abbreviated math functions.

What are today’s Connections answers?

The completed NYT Connections puzzle #1196 for Sept. 19, 2026.
The completed NYT Connections puzzle for Sept. 19, 2026.NYT/Screenshot by CNET

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is widen one’s scope.

The four answers are brand out, diversify, expand and grow.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is features of a kid’s drawing.

The four answers are house, stick figure, sun and tree.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with swinging London in the 1960s.

The four answers are Carnaby Street, miniskirt, mod and Twiggy.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is starting with abbreviated math functions.

The four answers are cos lettuce, log cabin, Sin City and tan line.

Gael Cooper

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.

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