NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Thursday, March 5, 2026 (#998)
Puzzle #998. 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, March 5, 2026 (puzzle #998) is: YELLOW — BITS OF HARDWARE: BOLT, NUT, SCREW, WASHER. GREEN — PLACES WHERE IDEAS ARE DEVELOPED: INCUBATOR, LAB, SANDBOX, TEST BED. BLUE — GO BACK AND FORTH: ALTERNATE, SEESAW, SWITCH, TOGGLE. PURPLE — WHAT "SUB" MIGHT REFER TO: BELOW, HERO, REPLACEMENT, SUBMARINE.
Today's 16 words
The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Thursday, March 5, 2026. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.
ALTERNATE
HERO
TOGGLE
BOLT
REPLACEMENT
SANDBOX
BELOW
SEESAW
NUT
LAB
WASHER
SUBMARINE
INCUBATOR
SWITCH
SCREW
TEST BED
How hard is Connections #998?
Easy35/100
• 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 Thursday, March 5, 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 — think about hardware.
green(a little trickier, but still direct) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about developed.
blue(where the misdirection usually starts) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about forth.
purple(the wordplay group, and almost always the last to fall) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about refer.
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.
blue4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
purple4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
yellowOne member is
greenOne member is
blueOne member is
purpleOne member is
yellow
green
blue
purple
NYT Connections answers for Thursday, March 5, 2026
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Common questions
What is the NYT Connections answer for Thursday, March 5, 2026?
The NYT Connections answer for Thursday, March 5, 2026 (puzzle #998) is: YELLOW — BITS OF HARDWARE: BOLT, NUT, SCREW, WASHER. GREEN — PLACES WHERE IDEAS ARE DEVELOPED: INCUBATOR, LAB, SANDBOX, TEST BED. BLUE — GO BACK AND FORTH: ALTERNATE, SEESAW, SWITCH, TOGGLE. PURPLE — WHAT "SUB" MIGHT REFER TO: BELOW, HERO, REPLACEMENT, SUBMARINE.
What is the purple group in Connections #998?
The purple (hardest) group is "WHAT "SUB" MIGHT REFER TO": BELOW, HERO, REPLACEMENT, SUBMARINE.
What is the easiest group in today's Connections puzzle?
The yellow group is the most straightforward: "BITS OF HARDWARE" — BOLT, NUT, SCREW, WASHER. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.
What number is today's Connections puzzle?
Thursday, March 5, 2026 is NYT Connections puzzle #998. 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.