You're reading an archived Connections puzzle from Aug 24, 2026 — the daily hints refresh every midnight.

Today's puzzle hints & answers →
Connections sportSports Connections Wordle Spelling Bee Browse all →
NYT Connections · #1170

NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1170) — August 24, 2026

By ·

Earlier Aug 23 This puzzle Aug 24 Later Aug 25

“Tackle the green group first — four words that all mean the same plain thing — then use those quick wins to clear space before the purple group demands your full attention.MULLET, SOLE, TANG and PIKE have all appeared in fish categories before across multiple puzzles. SOLE and TANG appeared in Connections #927 (Dec 24, 2025), and MULLET, SOLE and TANG appeared in Connections #552 (Dec 14, 2024) — each time as part of a fish-themed group.”

NYT Connections hints for August 24, 2026

Three levels of help — a definition for every word, colour-coded group nudges, and a heads-up on the traps. Skip to all answers →

1

Word clues

A spoiler-free definition for every word in the grid. Tap the eye on any card to reveal which colour-group it belongs to.

1 ARCHAs an adjective it means chief or foremost — think archenemy — not the curved structure.
2 BESETSounds like 'be-set' but decode it as B (the letter) + SET (a unit of play in tennis).
3 CHIEFMeans primary or most important — not just a job title.
4 DESERVESounds like 'de-serve' — decode as D (the letter) + SERVE (hitting the ball to start a point).
5 EX-LOVESounds like 'ex-love' — decode as X (the letter, pronounced 'ex') + LOVE (tennis term for zero).
6 EYELETLooks like a fabric hole; decode as I (the letter, pronounced 'eye') + LET (a serve that clips the net and is replayed).
7 FACEWrestling term for the heroic, fan-favourite wrestler — the good guy of the storyline.
8 HEELWrestling term for the villain — the performer the crowd is meant to boo.
9 JOBBERA wrestler whose role is to lose, making the star look strong.
10 KAYFABEThe unwritten rule that wrestlers maintain their characters as real — breaking kayfabe means dropping the act.
11 MAINThe most straightforward of the four — simply meaning primary or central.
12 MULLETFamous as a hairstyle, but also a grey or red fish common in coastal waters.
13 PIKEA long, predatory freshwater fish — also a road or a gymnastics position, neither of which applies here.
14 PRIMEMeans first in importance — not a number type or a streaming service here.
15 SOLEA flat, bottom-dwelling fish — not the bottom of a shoe or the word meaning 'only'.
16 TANGA tropical reef fish — Dory from Finding Nemo is a blue tang — not the powdered drink or a sharp flavour.
2

Group hints

Four colour-coded groups, easiest → hardest. Every button reveals the hint, the category name, or a single word — tap only what you need.

See Hint These four swim, not walk or flavour.
See Group FISH
See WordMULLET
See WordPIKE
See WordSOLE
See WordTANG
See Hint A word that goes before 'minister', 'suspect', or 'enemy' fits right in here.
See Group PRINCIPAL
See WordARCH
See WordCHIEF
See WordMAIN
See WordPRIME
See Hint Inside the ring, these words mean something the crowd understands.
See Group PRO-WRESTLING LINGO
See WordFACE
See WordHEEL
See WordJOBBER
See WordKAYFABE
See Hint Each one sounds like a single letter followed by something you'd hear at Wimbledon.
See Group LETTER HOMOPHONE PLUS TENNIS TERM
See WordBESET
See WordDESERVE
See WordEX-LOVE
See WordEYELET
3

Words the puzzle wants you to mis-group

Read these before you guess — they're the words most likely to break a streak. Tap for the trap.

1 SOLE Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably reading it as 'only' or the bottom of a shoe — both very natural reads — but here it's a flatfish, not a footwear component.
2 MULLET Tap to see why this word traps.
You're almost certainly picturing the hairstyle, but the puzzle is using it as a fish, not a fashion choice.
3 HEEL Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of the back of your foot or a shoe part, but here it's a term from a very different kind of performance.
4 FACE Tap to see why this word traps.
You're reading it as a body part or a verb meaning to confront, but the puzzle uses it in a specialised performance context that has nothing to do with anatomy.
5 EYELET Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably picturing the small hole in a shoe or fabric — that's the bait — but here it works as a sound-alike for a letter followed by a tennis term.

NYT Connections answers for August 24, 2026

All four groups revealed, easiest first. Each card holds the theme, the four words, and why the group works.

Y FISH · Yellow · easiest
  • MULLET
  • PIKE
  • SOLE
  • TANG

MULLET, PIKE, SOLE and TANG are all types of fish. The category works because every word has a much more familiar non-fish meaning — hairstyle, road, shoe bottom, flavour — making solvers slow to commit.

G PRINCIPAL · Green · easy
  • ARCH
  • CHIEF
  • MAIN
  • PRIME

ARCH, CHIEF, MAIN and PRIME are all synonyms for 'principal' or 'most important'. ARCH is the sneakiest — most solvers read it as a curved structure before remembering it works as an adjective meaning foremost, as in archenemy.

B PRO-WRESTLING LINGO · Blue · medium
  • FACE
  • HEEL
  • JOBBER
  • KAYFABE

FACE, HEEL, JOBBER and KAYFABE are all pro-wrestling jargon. KAYFABE is the most obscure — it refers to the practice of treating scripted storylines as real, the foundational fiction that holds wrestling's drama together.

P LETTER HOMOPHONE PLUS TENNIS TERM · Purple · hardest
  • BESET
  • DESERVE
  • EX-LOVE
  • EYELET

BESET, DESERVE, EX-LOVE and EYELET each contain a letter name (as a homophone) followed by a tennis term: B + SET, D + SERVE, X (ex) + LOVE, and I (eye) + LET. The tennis vocabulary here — set, serve, love, let — covers four of the sport's most essential calls.

Try another puzzle

Two more NazoKai hints, ready when you are.

Wordle

Today's hint ladder & answer

Open

Spelling Bee

Answers, pangram & word list

Open