NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Saturday, February 28, 2026 (#993)
Puzzle #993. 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 Saturday, February 28, 2026 (puzzle #993) is: YELLOW — CRAVING: DESIRE, ITCH, THIRST, URGE. GREEN — JOBS THAT INVOLVE TRAVELING: CRUISE DIRECTOR, PILOT, ROADIE, SALESMAN. BLUE — NAME HOMOPHONES: EARNEST, KNEEL, RUSTLE, TAILOR. PURPLE — ASTRONOMICAL TERMS PLUS A LETTER: COMETH, NOVAK, START, SUNG.
Today's 16 words
The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Saturday, February 28, 2026. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.
START
KNEEL
TAILOR
SALESMAN
COMETH
PILOT
EARNEST
ITCH
DESIRE
ROADIE
RUSTLE
SUNG
NOVAK
THIRST
CRUISE DIRECTOR
URGE
How hard is Connections #993?
Medium59/100
• 2 categories run on wordplay rather than meaning.
• At least one entry is a phrase rather than a single word.
Where to start: Every category here is meaning-based, so group by topic first and use the four-per-group constraint to settle any word that could go two ways.
Connections hints for Saturday, February 28, 2026
Four levels, each giving away a little more. Open only as many as you need.
yellow(the most straightforward group — start here) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — the category is a single word beginning with "C".
green(a little trickier, but still direct) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about traveling.
blue(where the misdirection usually starts) Say these four out loud — they sound like something else entirely.
purple(the wordplay group, and almost always the last to fall) Add a letter to each and you get a different word.
yellow4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
green4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
blueThe link is how they sound, not how they're spelled.
purpleOne extra letter turns each word into something else.
yellowOne member is
greenOne member is
blueOne member is
purpleOne member is
yellow
green
blue
purple
NYT Connections answers for Saturday, February 28, 2026
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Common questions
What is the NYT Connections answer for Saturday, February 28, 2026?
The NYT Connections answer for Saturday, February 28, 2026 (puzzle #993) is: YELLOW — CRAVING: DESIRE, ITCH, THIRST, URGE. GREEN — JOBS THAT INVOLVE TRAVELING: CRUISE DIRECTOR, PILOT, ROADIE, SALESMAN. BLUE — NAME HOMOPHONES: EARNEST, KNEEL, RUSTLE, TAILOR. PURPLE — ASTRONOMICAL TERMS PLUS A LETTER: COMETH, NOVAK, START, SUNG.
What is the purple group in Connections #993?
The purple (hardest) group is "ASTRONOMICAL TERMS PLUS A LETTER": COMETH, NOVAK, START, SUNG.
What is the easiest group in today's Connections puzzle?
The yellow group is the most straightforward: "CRAVING" — DESIRE, ITCH, THIRST, URGE. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.
What number is today's Connections puzzle?
Saturday, February 28, 2026 is NYT Connections puzzle #993. 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.