NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Thursday, August 27, 2026 (#1173)
Puzzle #1173. 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 27, 2026 (puzzle #1173) is: YELLOW — ELECTRIC THINGS: ELECTRIC EEL, LIGHTNING, LIVE WIRE, PIKACHU. GREEN — MOVED TO TEARS: CHOKED UP, EMOTIONAL, MISTY, OVERCOME. BLUE — SHADES OF GRAY: ASH, DOVE, PEWTER, SLATE. PURPLE — MUSIC GENRE PLUS STARTING LETTER: BROCK, NEMO, SPUNK, WRAP.
Today's 16 words
The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Thursday, August 27, 2026. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.
PIKACHU
SPUNK
NEMO
DOVE
MISTY
SLATE
LIGHTNING
ASH
PEWTER
BROCK
EMOTIONAL
LIVE WIRE
OVERCOME
ELECTRIC EEL
WRAP
CHOKED UP
How hard is Connections #1173?
Medium47/100
• One category runs 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 Thursday, August 27, 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 things.
green(a little trickier, but still direct) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about tears.
blue(where the misdirection usually starts) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about gray.
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.
blue4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
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 Thursday, August 27, 2026
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Common questions
What is the NYT Connections answer for Thursday, August 27, 2026?
The NYT Connections answer for Thursday, August 27, 2026 (puzzle #1173) is: YELLOW — ELECTRIC THINGS: ELECTRIC EEL, LIGHTNING, LIVE WIRE, PIKACHU. GREEN — MOVED TO TEARS: CHOKED UP, EMOTIONAL, MISTY, OVERCOME. BLUE — SHADES OF GRAY: ASH, DOVE, PEWTER, SLATE. PURPLE — MUSIC GENRE PLUS STARTING LETTER: BROCK, NEMO, SPUNK, WRAP.
What is the purple group in Connections #1173?
The purple (hardest) group is "MUSIC GENRE PLUS STARTING LETTER": BROCK, NEMO, SPUNK, WRAP.
What is the easiest group in today's Connections puzzle?
The yellow group is the most straightforward: "ELECTRIC THINGS" — ELECTRIC EEL, LIGHTNING, LIVE WIRE, PIKACHU. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.
What number is today's Connections puzzle?
Thursday, August 27, 2026 is NYT Connections puzzle #1173. 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.