You ever wake up, grab your coffee, and think you're ready to take on the world, only to have a 16-word grid from the New York Times absolutely humble you? That’s basically the collective experience for anyone tackling the NYT Connections hints September 19 puzzle today. Honestly, it’s one of those days where the "easy" categories feel like a trap and the "hard" ones make you want to throw your phone across the room.
The game is simple enough in theory. You get 16 words. You find four groups of four. You don't mess up more than four times. But today? Today is a masterclass in misdirection. Wyna Liu and the editorial team clearly chose violence this morning.
If you're stuck on puzzle #831, don't worry. You aren't losing your mind. There are some specific overlaps—especially with the words "PACE" and "SCORE"—that are designed to eat up your four precious lives.
The Themes That Are Tripping People Up
Usually, you can spot the Yellow category from a mile away. It’s the low-hanging fruit. Today, however, the "Evaluate" theme feels a bit clinical. If you’re looking at words like GRADE or RANK, you might be tempted to pull in PACE or CLIP, thinking about speed or measurements. Don't do it.
The real headache comes from the Blue and Purple groups. Whenever there's a "Things that can " or a " Word" category, the brain just sort of short-circuits. We've all seen a MASCARA wand, but thinking of it as something that "runs" is the kind of lateral thinking that makes this game a daily obsession (and a daily frustration).
Quick Hints for Each Color
Before we get into the full answers, maybe you just need a nudge. Here is the vibe for each group:
- Yellow: Think about how a teacher looks at an essay or how a scout looks at a player. You’re assigning a value.
- Green: Think about how your body betrays you when you're standing on a stage about to give a speech. It's all about those physical "tells."
- Blue: This is the "Annoying" category. These are things that shouldn't move, but they do, and it usually ruins your day or your outfit.
- Purple: This one is a classic "Fill in the blank" situation. Put a specific word in front of all of these, and suddenly they make sense. Hint: It's something you're probably not reading this on right now.
NYT Connections Hints September 19: The Breakdown
Let's get into the weeds. If you want to keep your streak alive without just looking at the answers, focus on the word TIGER. It’s the biggest outlier on the board. Does it go with animals? No other animals. Does it go with sports? Maybe TIGER Woods? But there are no other golf references. When you find a word that feels like it belongs nowhere, it almost always belongs to Purple.
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Yellow: Evaluate
These words are all about assessment. It’s pretty straightforward once you filter out the noise.
- GRADE
- RANK
- RATE
- SCORE
Green: Exhibit Nervousness
We’ve all been there. You're waiting for a second date to text back or waiting for your boss to call you into the office. Your body starts doing things.
- BLUSH
- FIDGET
- PACE
- SWEAT
Blue: Things That Can Run, Annoyingly
This is the one that’s breaking streaks today. Most people think of "run" as an exercise. In this context, it’s about liquid or fabric failing you.
- DYE (Like when you wash a red shirt with whites)
- MASCARA (The classic "crying in the rain" look)
- NOSE (The seasonal allergy special)
- STOCKINGS (One snag and it’s over)
Purple: Paper ___
The hardest category. "Paper TIGER" is a phrase that refers to something that seems threatening but is actually toothless. Once you get that, the others fall into place, though "Paper TRAIL" is a bit of a sneaky one.
- CLIP
- TIGER
- TOWEL
- TRAIL
Why Today’s Puzzle is Actually Hard
The difficulty in the NYT Connections hints September 19 grid comes from the "overlap" words. Take PACE. Most people see PACE and immediately think of "speed" or "rate." It feels like it belongs in the Yellow category with RANK and SCORE.
Then you have TRAIL. You "run" a trail, right? So you might try to put TRAIL in the Blue category with MASCARA and NOSE. If you did that, you probably saw the "One away!" message. That message is the game's way of teasing you. It's the "almost" that hurts the most.
The "Paper" category is also a bit of a reach for younger players. While PAPER CLIP and PAPER TOWEL are everyday objects, PAPER TIGER is a bit more idiomatic and "literary." It’s that mix of the mundane and the metaphorical that makes the Purple group the "boss fight" of the puzzle.
Strategy for Tomorrow
If today kicked your butt, remember the golden rule of Connections: Don't submit your first guess. Always look for a fifth word that could fit into your group of four. If you find five words that fit "Evaluate," you know that one of them is a red herring meant for another group. In today’s case, PACE was that red herring. It feels like it should be with RATE and RANK, but it’s actually a nervous habit.
Another tip? Use the shuffle button. Sometimes seeing the words in a different order breaks the mental loops you've stayed in for ten minutes. Our brains love patterns, but sometimes they see patterns that aren't there just because two words are sitting next to each other in the grid.
Practical Steps to Solve Connections Faster
- Identify the "weird" words first (like TIGER or MASCARA).
- Look for "fill-in-the-blank" possibilities for those weird words.
- Group the most obvious category but do not click submit.
- Check if any of those four words could possibly belong to a different, more obscure theme.
- Once you have three solid groups, the fourth (usually Purple) will solve itself by default.
If you managed to beat the September 19 puzzle without losing all your lives, consider yourself a word-game elite. If not, there’s always tomorrow’s grid to redeem yourself.
To stay ahead of the game, try practicing with the Only Connect "Wall" puzzles, which inspired Connections, or browse the NYT Games archive to see common Purple category tropes like "Parts of a Body" or "Words that are also Colors."