NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Saturday, August 22, 2026 (#1168)

Puzzle #1168. 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, August 22, 2026 (puzzle #1168) is: YELLOW — CARPENTRY TOOLS: CHISEL, HAMMER, PLANE, SAW. GREEN — KINDS OF MELON: BITTER, MUSK, WATER, WINTER. BLUE — GARDEN HOSE SETTINGS: CONE, JET, MIST, SHOWER. PURPLE — ___ GIRLS OF POP CULTURE: GILMORE, GOLDEN, MEAN, SPICE.

Today's 16 words

The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Saturday, August 22, 2026. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.

BITTER
SPICE
MEAN
WINTER
HAMMER
CONE
PLANE
JET
GOLDEN
SAW
MIST
MUSK
GILMORE
CHISEL
WATER
SHOWER

How hard is Connections #1168?

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 "Girls" — locking that group down removes four red herrings from the rest of the grid.

Connections hints for Saturday, August 22, 2026

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

NYT Connections answers for Saturday, August 22, 2026

Keep playing

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Common questions

What is the NYT Connections answer for Saturday, August 22, 2026?

The NYT Connections answer for Saturday, August 22, 2026 (puzzle #1168) is: YELLOW — CARPENTRY TOOLS: CHISEL, HAMMER, PLANE, SAW. GREEN — KINDS OF MELON: BITTER, MUSK, WATER, WINTER. BLUE — GARDEN HOSE SETTINGS: CONE, JET, MIST, SHOWER. PURPLE — ___ GIRLS OF POP CULTURE: GILMORE, GOLDEN, MEAN, SPICE.

What is the purple group in Connections #1168?

The purple (hardest) group is "___ GIRLS OF POP CULTURE": GILMORE, GOLDEN, MEAN, SPICE.

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

The yellow group is the most straightforward: "CARPENTRY TOOLS" — CHISEL, HAMMER, PLANE, SAW. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.

What number is today's Connections puzzle?

Saturday, August 22, 2026 is NYT Connections puzzle #1168. 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.