NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Thursday, August 31, 2023 (#81)

Puzzle #81. Start with a gentle nudge and work down — the full answers are at the bottom, hidden until you ask for them.

Just tell me the answer

The NYT Connections answer for Thursday, August 31, 2023 (puzzle #81) is: YELLOW — APPETIZER UNIT: FRY, NACHO, POPPER, WING. GREEN — RESPONSE TO A CORRECT ANSWER: BINGO, CORRECT, RIGHT, YES. BLUE — MAR: CHIP, DING, NICK, SCRATCH. PURPLE — ___JACK: APPLE, CRACKER, FLAP, LUMBER.

Today's 16 words

The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Thursday, August 31, 2023. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.

CHIP
APPLE
FRY
RIGHT
CRACKER
WING
DING
FLAP
BINGO
SCRATCH
NACHO
YES
NICK
LUMBER
CORRECT
POPPER

How hard is Connections #81?

Medium52/100
  • One category runs on wordplay rather than meaning.
  • Lots of very short words, which carry more possible meanings.

Where to start: Look for the four words that combine with "Jack" — locking that group down removes four red herrings from the rest of the grid.

Connections hints for Thursday, August 31, 2023

Four levels, each giving away a little more. Open only as many as you need.

NYT Connections answers for Thursday, August 31, 2023

Keep playing

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Common questions

What is the NYT Connections answer for Thursday, August 31, 2023?

The NYT Connections answer for Thursday, August 31, 2023 (puzzle #81) is: YELLOW — APPETIZER UNIT: FRY, NACHO, POPPER, WING. GREEN — RESPONSE TO A CORRECT ANSWER: BINGO, CORRECT, RIGHT, YES. BLUE — MAR: CHIP, DING, NICK, SCRATCH. PURPLE — ___JACK: APPLE, CRACKER, FLAP, LUMBER.

What is the purple group in Connections #81?

The purple (hardest) group is "___JACK": APPLE, CRACKER, FLAP, LUMBER.

What is the easiest group in today's Connections puzzle?

The yellow group is the most straightforward: "APPETIZER UNIT" — FRY, NACHO, POPPER, WING. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.

What number is today's Connections puzzle?

Thursday, August 31, 2023 is NYT Connections puzzle #81. Connections launched on 12 June 2023 with puzzle #1, and a new puzzle is published every day.

What time does a new NYT Connections puzzle come out?

A new Connections puzzle unlocks at midnight in your own local time zone, so the changeover happens at a different moment around the world. The puzzle itself is the same for everyone on a given date.