NYT Connections #1160 answer & hints: Friday, August 14, 2026

Updated: Friday, August 14, 2026 · Hints reviewed by Omer Liban · New puzzle daily at midnight US Eastern Time (5am UK). · Puzzle editor: Wyna Liu.

This page has every level of help for the NYT Connections puzzle #1160 of Friday, August 14, 2026: 3 spoiler-free hint tiers that narrow things down step by step, followed by the complete answers with explanations — each behind its own tap-to-reveal card.

Stuck on today's Connections? Work through the hint tiers below — each one gives away a little more, so you can get exactly as much help as you want and still keep the win.

New to Connections? The four answer groups are colour-coded by difficulty: 🟡 yellow is the easiest, then 🟢 green, 🔵 blue, and 🟣 purple — the trickiest, usually built on wordplay. The hints below use those colours.

Connections hints (August 14, 2026)

1One word from each group

Yellow (easiest): one of its words is “BUMBLEBEE”.
Green (easy): one of its words is “BUBBLE”.
Blue (tricky): one of its words is “BRISTOL BOARD”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): one of its words is “BASS ALE”.

2Category hints (no answers)

Yellow (easiest): the theme is “Black-and-yellow”.
Green (easy): the theme is “Places where everyone thinks the same ways”.
Blue (tricky): the theme is “Comic book artist's tools”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): the theme is “Triangle logos”.

3One full group revealed

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Black-and-yellow”, and its four words are: BUMBLEBEE, CAUTION TAPE, CHARLIE BROWN, WOLVERINE.

Connections answers — August 14, 2026 (#1160)

★Today's full Connections answers, explained

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Black-and-yellow”. The words: BUMBLEBEE, CAUTION TAPE, CHARLIE BROWN, WOLVERINE.
Green (easy) — the connection is “Places where everyone thinks the same ways”. The words: BUBBLE, ECHO CHAMBER, HIVEMIND, SILO.
Blue (tricky) — the connection is “Comic book artist's tools”. The words: BRISTOL BOARD, DIP PEN, INDIA INK, STRAIGHTEDGE.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay) — the connection is “Triangle logos”. The words: BASS ALE, CITGO, DELTA AIRLINES, GOOGLE DRIVE.

The puzzle, explained

The purple group's brilliance lies in the fact that these are all famous brands whose logos feature triangles—but "triangle" itself never appears in any of the clues, so you're hunting for a visual pattern rather than a literal category. BASS ALE's red triangle, CITGO's inverted red triangle, DELTA AIRLINES' blue triangle, and GOOGLE DRIVE's colorful triangle are instantly recognizable once you see it, but getting there means resisting the pull of other groupings. The real trap was CHARLIE BROWN feeling like it belonged with the black-and-yellow crew (Peanuts aesthetic, plus his iconic zigzag shirt), when it actually *does* go there—but WOLVERINE nearly had the same problem since the animal itself is associated with yellow and black stripes, even though the X-Men character's costume design is what makes it work. DIP PEN and STRAIGHTEDGE were probably the sneakiest blue group members because they sound like they *could* be slang or casual phrases, making you second-guess whether they truly fit the technical art supplies category, when they absolutely do.

Next in today's routine: Wordle → · every game's answers on one page. New puzzle daily at midnight US Eastern Time (5am UK). Bookmark this page for tomorrow's hints. Or play Connections on the official site.

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Connections — common questions

What time does NYT Connections reset?

A new Connections puzzle is released daily at midnight US Eastern Time — that's 5am in the UK (4am during US daylight-saving transitions) and 12:00am for US East Coast players.

What do the Connections colours mean?

Yellow is the easiest group, then green, then blue, and purple is the trickiest — purple usually involves wordplay such as homophones, hidden words or 'words before/after X'.

How many mistakes are allowed in Connections?

You can make four mistakes before the puzzle ends. If you see 'one away…', exactly three of your four selected words belong together.

Previous Connections puzzles

Full Connections archive (137 puzzles) → · How to play Connections (and win more) →