The NYT Connections puzzle #1013 for March 20, 2026 brings a fun mix of everyday language, board-game references, mythology, and phrase completion. At first glance, the grid looks approachable, but several words can pull you in the wrong direction if you read them too literally. The yellow group is the cleanest starting point, while the green category will jump out quickly for board-game players.
That board-game angle is one of the defining details of today’s puzzle. If you have ever spent time circling a Monopoly board, one set becomes much easier to identify. From there, the puzzle shifts into more thematic territory with Greek mythology before closing with a classic purple-category construction based on familiar expressions.
If you are looking for the most recent Connections help, this article covers today’s hints and answers while also pointing puzzle fans toward the wider New York Times games lineup, including the Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition, and Strands.
You can play the official puzzle on the New York Times Connections page. If you get stuck, use the hints, categories, and interactive practice board below before opening the full answers.
Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
Here are four hints for today’s Connections puzzle, arranged from the easiest yellow group to the trickier purple group.
🟨 Yellow group hint: Cause anxiety
This category is about disturbing or unsettling someone. The words are not all identical synonyms, but they share the idea of making a person uneasy, nervous, or thrown off balance. Some lean emotional, others feel more physical, but they all fit under the broader idea of disturbance.
🟩 Green group hint: Do not pass Go
This is the most playful category in the puzzle and the one that immediately favors board-game fans. The clue points you directly toward Monopoly. Once you picture the game board, the right group becomes much easier to lock in because these are words you would literally see printed there.
🟦 Blue group hint: Gods and monsters
This group shifts away from everyday speech and into the world of legend. Think about well-known figures and beings from Greek mythology. A couple of these words are especially sneaky because they are still used in modern English all the time, which can hide their mythological connection at first.
🟪 Purple group hint: Chickens lay them
The purple set depends on phrase building rather than direct definition. Start with the word egg, then look for words that commonly follow it to form familiar compounds or expressions. This is the sort of category that feels invisible until the language pattern suddenly clicks.
Categories
Yellow group: Disturb
Green group: Words on a Monopoly board
Blue group: Figure in Greek myth
Purple group: Egg ____
One-word anchors
- 🟨 Yellow: ALARM
- 🟩 Green: CHANCE
- 🟦 Blue: SIREN
- 🟪 Purple: TIMER
Practice Mode
Answers for Today’s Connections Groups
🟨 Yellow – Disturb
ALARM, CONCERN, RATTLE, SHAKE
These words all connect through the idea of disturbing or unsettling someone. Alarm and concern suggest worry or anxiety, while rattle and shake describe throwing someone off or upsetting their composure. This is the most direct category on the board, though some players may initially separate the emotional words from the more physical ones.
🟩 Green – Words on a Monopoly board
BOARDWALK, CHANCE, LUXURY, PARKING
This is the board-game category highlighted in the original clue set. Boardwalk is one of Monopoly’s most famous properties, Chance names one of the card spaces, Luxury comes from Luxury Tax, and Parking comes from Free Parking. Anyone who grew up with Monopoly probably spotted this group quickly.
🟦 Blue – Figure in Greek myth
FATE, FURY, MUSE, SIREN
This category gathers well-known figures and beings from Greek mythology. The Fates control destiny, the Furies represent vengeance, the Muses inspire art and knowledge, and Sirens are the dangerous singing creatures of myth. The trick here is that several of these words are still common in everyday English, which can make their shared origin easy to miss.
🟪 Purple – Egg ____
CARTON, NOODLE, ROLL, TIMER
Each of these words can follow egg to make a familiar phrase: egg carton, egg noodle, egg roll, and egg timer. This is a classic purple group because the connection is simple once seen, but hard to notice while the words are still sitting separately in the grid.
About Today’s Puzzle
Today’s Connections board is a good example of how the game balances straightforward vocabulary with themed knowledge and wordplay. The yellow set is accessible, the green group rewards familiarity with Monopoly, the blue category leans on mythology, and the purple group turns into a phrase-completion puzzle.
Another key detail from today’s New York Times Connections ecosystem is the Connections Bot, which works similarly to the Wordle bot. After solving, players can use it to receive a numeric score and get an analysis of their choices. Registered users in the Times Games section can also track their progress over time, including completed puzzles, win rate, perfect scores, and current streak.
That extra layer of tracking makes daily play even more engaging, especially on a puzzle like this one, where a clean solve depends on quickly recognizing when a word belongs to a familiar theme rather than its most obvious modern meaning.
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