NYT Connections #1177 answer & hints: Monday, August 31, 2026

Updated: Monday, August 31, 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 #1177 of Monday, August 31, 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 31, 2026)

1One word from each group

Yellow (easiest): one of its words is “LIPSTICK”.
Green (easy): one of its words is “FRAGILE”.
Blue (tricky): one of its words is “CALIPH”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): one of its words is “DUST”.

2Category hints (no answers)

Yellow (easiest): the theme is “Things that come in tubes”.
Green (easy): the theme is “Warnings on a shipping box”.
Blue (tricky): the theme is “Historical sovereign titles”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): the theme is “___ bowl”.

3One full group revealed

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Things that come in tubes”, and its four words are: LIPSTICK, POSTER, TENNIS BALLS, TOOTHPASTE.

Connections answers — August 31, 2026 (#1177)

★Today's full Connections answers, explained

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Things that come in tubes”. The words: LIPSTICK, POSTER, TENNIS BALLS, TOOTHPASTE.
Green (easy) — the connection is “Warnings on a shipping box”. The words: FRAGILE, HEAVY, PERISHABLE, THIS SIDE UP.
Blue (tricky) — the connection is “Historical sovereign titles”. The words: CALIPH, KHAN, PHARAOH, SHOGUN.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay) — the connection is “___ bowl”. The words: DUST, POKE, SALAD, SUPER.

The puzzle, explained

Today's purple group was all about things that can precede "BOWL"—DUST BOWL, POKE BOWL, SALAD BOWL, and SUPER BOWL—which is a classic Connections misdirection setup. The tricky part is that SALAD and SUPER especially look like they belong with everyday objects or sports, so your brain wants to slot them elsewhere before realizing they're all just waiting for BOWL. POKE was probably the sneakiest bait since it could've theoretically linked to poker or fishing, but nope, it's all about that poke bowl trend. If you grabbed SALAD thinking it went with the tubes group or caught yourself second-guessing SUPER BOWL versus actual sporting equipment, that's exactly what made this one so deviously fun.

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

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