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 has a category that movie-goers might solve right away. Read on for hints and today’s Connections answers.

Hints for today’s Connections groups

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: Stretches.

Green group hint: Not on the surface.

Blue group hint: He played Jean Valjean.

Purple group hint: Not hate.

Read more: We Need to Talk About That Doggone Connections Puzzle

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Elasticity.

Green group: Things that are underground.

Blue group: Hugh Jackman movies, with “The.”

Purple group: Love ____.

What are today’s Connections answers?

The completed NYT Connections puzzle for Sept. 17, 2026.NYT/Screenshot by CNET

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is elasticity.

The four answers are bounce, flexibility, give and spring.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that are underground.

The four answers are mine shaft, sewer line, subway station and well.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Hugh Jackman movies, with “The.”

The four answers are Fountain, Prestige, Sheep Detectives and Wolverine.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is love ____.

The four answers are handles, language, tap and triangle.

Toughest Connections puzzles

We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles​ so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included “things you can set,” such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included “one in a dozen,” such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included “streets on screen,” such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included “power ___” such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included “things that can run,” such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.

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. See full bio