The NYT Connections puzzle #1015 for March 22, 2026 is a fun one with a real mix of topics. It starts with a category that feels fairly accessible, but the board gets more layered once you begin weighing words that can belong to more than one context. The puzzle is especially satisfying because each set feels distinct after the solve, even if a few words can initially send you in the wrong direction.
This puzzle was covered by Gael Cooper and published on March 21, 2026 at 1:01 p.m. PT. Along with the daily hints and answers, the source also pointed readers toward the latest help for other New York Times word games, including Wordle, Strands, the Mini Crossword, and Connections: Sports Edition.
You can play the official puzzle on the New York Times Connections page. After you finish, you can also check the Connections Bot, which works similarly to the Wordle Bot. It gives you a numeric score and analyzes your solving path. Players signed into the Times Games section can also track stats such as completed puzzles, win rate, perfect scores, and streaks.
Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
The original hints were ranked from the easiest yellow group to the toughest purple group. Here are those same hint directions, expanded a bit more for players who want guidance without immediately revealing the answers.
🟨 Yellow group hint: In charge.
This group revolves around leadership, control, and responsibility. Think about words you might use for someone directing a meeting, running an operation, overseeing a department, or taking charge of a team. Several of these words work naturally in business, management, and organizational settings, which makes this the most straightforward category on the board once you spot the theme.
🟩 Green group hint: You might screenshot one.
Now move into visual media. Imagine pausing a movie, TV show, or trailer and capturing a single frozen moment from it. These words connect to a picture taken from something originally in motion, so film and photography vocabulary should guide your thinking here. Once you frame the category in cinematic terms, the group becomes much easier to separate from the rest of the board.
🟦 Blue group hint: How many reps can you do?
This set belongs in the gym. Rather than thinking about muscle groups or exercise names, picture the physical equipment around a person lifting weights. The category is built around parts of a typical weightlifting station, and visualizing a bench press or strength-training area is the simplest way to get there.
🟪 Purple group hint: Hang ten!
The purple set is the trickiest because it is less about standalone meanings and more about phrase construction. The surfing clue is your entry point. Think of familiar expressions where each answer word can go directly before the same second word. Once you stop trying to force a direct semantic category and instead think in terms of common phrases, the pattern becomes much clearer.
Categories
Yellow group: Oversee
Green group: Picture taken from a film
Blue group: Components of a weightlifting setup
Purple group: ____ surf
One-word anchors
- 🟨 Yellow: LEAD
- 🟩 Green: STILL
- 🟦 Blue: BENCH
- 🟪 Purple: COUCH
Practice Mode
What Are Today’s Connections Answers?
🟨 Yellow – Oversee
CHAIR, HEAD, LEAD, RUN
The yellow words are united by the idea of being in charge. You can chair a meeting, head an organization, lead a team, or run an operation. All four suggest authority, supervision, or direction, which is why this is the cleanest entry point on the board for many players.
🟩 Green – Picture taken from a film
FRAME, IMAGE, SHOT, STILL
This group is centered on visuals captured from moving media. A frame is one moment in a sequence, a shot refers to a filmed view or captured scene, an image is the visual result, and a still is a frozen picture taken from motion. The screenshot clue makes perfect sense once you view the whole category through a film lens.
🟦 Blue – Components of a weightlifting setup
BAR, BENCH, RACK, WEIGHTS
The blue set belongs to the weight room. A bar holds the plates, a bench supports certain lifts, a rack stores or positions the equipment, and weights provide resistance. This category becomes obvious once you picture a standard strength-training station rather than trying to connect the words more abstractly.
🟪 Purple – ____ surf
CHANNEL, COUCH, CROWD, KITE
The purple group is a phrase-building category. Each answer forms a familiar term with surf: channel surf, couch surf, crowd surf, and kite surf. That structure is what makes the set feel tricky at first, since the words do not seem closely related until you realize they all connect through the same second word.
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