NYT Connections #1197 for September 20 brings together 16 words spanning movies, Kentucky traditions, familiar objects and rideable boards. Need a nudge before revealing the answers? Start with the spoiler-free hints below.
NYT Connections hints for September 20
- Yellow: Think about objects that share a simple physical shape — flat, circular and disc-like.
- Green: Think of traditions, food, drink and events strongly associated with one U.S. state.
- Blue: Four of these words are titles of movies connected by the same supernatural subject.
- Purple: Try placing the same word after each answer. The completed terms describe things people can ride.
Main trap: BLADE and SKATE may immediately look connected because a skate can have a blade. That pairing is a distraction, however, as the two words belong to completely different groups.
Blue clue: TWILIGHT and BLADE are the strongest anchors. Once you recognize the movie connection, look for two more film titles involving vampires.
Purple clue: HOVER, SKATE, SNOW and SURF do not form an obvious category on their own. Add the same word to the end of each and the connection should become much clearer.
Today’s NYT Connections answers
Reveal the Yellow Group
Category: Round flat things
Answers: BLU-RAY, COASTER, SAND DOLLAR, TORTILLA
All four are recognizable as relatively flat, round objects. A BLU-RAY disc and COASTER have an obvious circular shape, while a SAND DOLLAR and TORTILLA fit the same broad physical description.
Reveal the Green Group
Category: Associated with Kentucky
Answers: BLUEGRASS, BOURBON, DERBY, FRIED CHICKEN
Each answer has a familiar connection to Kentucky. BLUEGRASS has deep roots in the state, BOURBON is closely tied to Kentucky’s distilling tradition, the Kentucky DERBY is one of its best-known sporting events, and FRIED CHICKEN has a famous cultural association with the state.
Reveal the Blue Group
Category: Vampire movies
Answers: BLADE, NEAR DARK, SINNERS, TWILIGHT
All four are movie titles involving vampires. BLADE and TWILIGHT may be the quickest to recognize, while NEAR DARK and SINNERS complete the film-based category.
BLADE is also an effective decoy because it can make SKATE look like a natural partner, potentially pulling players away from the correct groups.
Reveal the Purple Group
Category: ___boards you ride on
Answers: HOVER, SKATE, SNOW, SURF
Each answer forms the name of something rideable when followed by “board”: HOVERBOARD, SKATEBOARD, SNOWBOARD and SURFBOARD.
The trick is to stop looking for a direct relationship among the four standalone words and instead identify the shared word that completes each term.
Why today’s Connections was tricky: The September 20 puzzle mixes a straightforward shape category and familiar Kentucky associations with movie knowledge and a word-building Purple group. BLADE and SKATE create one of the most tempting false connections, while several of the round objects can initially seem unrelated because they come from completely different contexts.
Today’s solving lesson: If a set of words does not connect cleanly by meaning, test whether they can share a common word before or after them. Connections regularly uses compound words and shared-word constructions to disguise its more difficult categories.
Players can attempt the official daily puzzle and check their results on the New York Times Connections page.
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