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Connections #1,206

September 29, 2026

By Akash Wadhwani. Checked against two sources, updated 9:00 PM ET.

Sixteen words and four groups of four. Yellow is usually the straightforward one and purple is usually wordplay, so the hints below go one step at a time.

Hint 1: one word from each group
  • Yellow: one of the four is HIDDEN.
  • Green: one of the four is DELTA.
  • Blue: one of the four is TOY.
  • Purple: one of the four is HOME GAME.
Hint 2: the four categories
  • Yellow: Secluded.
  • Green: River Features.
  • Blue: First Words Of Pixar Films.
  • Purple: Phrases Hiding Greek Letters.
DELTAHIDDENINSIDEMODEL TANKMONSTERSFINDINGSECRETTOYFREEZE TAGORAL PHASEMOUTHREMOTESTREAM BEDTUCKED AWAYHOME GAMEDRAINAGE BASIN

Today's Connections groups, #1,206

  • Yellow, Secluded: HIDDEN, REMOTE, SECRET, TUCKED AWAY.
  • Green, River Features: DELTA, DRAINAGE BASIN, MOUTH, STREAM BED.
  • Blue, First Words Of Pixar Films: FINDING, INSIDE, MONSTERS, TOY.
  • Purple, Phrases Hiding Greek Letters: FREEZE TAG, HOME GAME, MODEL TANK, ORAL PHASE.

The purple group

Purple today is Phrases Hiding Greek Letters: FREEZE TAG, HOME GAME, MODEL TANK, ORAL PHASE. Purple is the group the setters build last, and it is usually a hidden word, a sound, or a phrase pattern rather than a plain category. If two of its words looked like they belonged somewhere else, that was the point.

Yesterday's Connections

Connections #1,205, September 28, 2026: Things With Stalks (BAMBOO, CELERY, CORN, WHEAT); Oyster Condiments (HORSERADISH, LEMON, MIGNONETTE, TABASCO); Dodge Models (CHALLENGER, CHARGER, DURANGO, VIPER); Three Letters Plus Repeated Trigrams (ARKANSANS, CHIHUAHUA, POSSESSES, SPRINGING). Yesterday's page ›

Connections is four groups. This one is five words.

One real news sentence a day, twenty to thirty words, something that actually happened. Keep the five words a headline would keep and let the rest go. Here is yesterday's, solved.

At Camden Lock, a 71-year-old woman, Beatrice Millar, took off her shoes, jumped in after a drowning man and saved him by holding his head above water.

Five tries. blue is the right word in the right place, orange is one of the five sitting somewhere else, grey is not one of them. The result beats the process, a name or a job beats a place, and the little words never count.

How you finish decides which sticker you keep.

Got it in oneClean copyFirst editionSo closeSince day one
Play today's sentence ›