Connections #1170: Fish, Wrestling, and Tennis Wordplay

Key points

• The yellow category, considered the easiest, groups words that are types of fish: mullet, pike, sole, and tang.
• The green category includes words meaning 'principal' or 'chief': arch, chief, main, and prime.
• The blue category features professional wrestling lingo: face, heel, jobber, and kayfabe.
• The purple category, the most difficult, combines letter homophones with tennis terms: beset, deserve, ex-love, and eyelet.
• The puzzle is identified as #1170 in the NYT Connections series.

Background

The New York Times Connections game is a daily word puzzle where players group 16 words into four categories based on shared themes. Previous puzzles have included themes such as CGI-animated film homophones, kinds of frogs, and starting with bread shapes. The game is available on the NYT website and in their Games app.

How outlets are covering it

Mashable, Lifehacker, and CNET all provided hints and answers for the August 24 puzzle. Mashable focused on defining the meanings of the words, such as explaining that 'kayfabe' is the act of pretending staged wrestling events are real. Lifehacker emphasized the tricky nature of the puzzle, noting that words like 'sole,' 'arch,' and 'heel' might initially seem related to shoes but belong to different categories. CNET highlighted the 'wacky' nature of the purple category, which combines letter sounds with tennis terms. All three outlets agreed on the final categories and words, but differed in their emphasis on the puzzle's difficulty and the specific meanings of the terms.

Why it matters

The NYT Connections puzzle is a popular daily activity for millions of users, and providing hints and solutions helps players engage with the game and understand the wordplay involved. The puzzle's design, which often includes overlapping themes and obscure references, challenges players to think creatively and use context clues to solve the puzzle.

What to watch

Players can continue to play the daily NYT Connections puzzle, with new puzzles released each day. The next puzzle, #1171, will be available on August 25, 2026. Players can also check out other NYT games, such as Wordle and Strands, which have similar daily formats.