Connections Hint
Puzzle #1198 · September 21, 2026

NYT Connections Hints for September 21, 2026

Start with the spoiler-free hints. Go deeper only when you need to. Reveal answers on your own terms.

Monday, September 21, 2026
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Today’s 16 Puzzle Words
Tap any word to see how it’s used in this puzzle
WORMCAPTUREDRAFTSCOMPOSESPAMSENTCHECKCHUMSPINNERMATEBRAHBEETCHOPFLYVIVACASTLE

Spoiler-Free Hints

Three levels — warmer as you read down
i Ultra safe

A direction for each group — no names given.

  • Familiar labels you'd spot on any screen you use every day.
  • Each of these is a way of coaxing something elusive into reach.
  • Each word marks a turning point in a two-person standoff.
  • Something odd ties these together; the surface meaning is a decoy.
ii Warmer

What kind of thinking each group asks for.

  • This is about the icons and folders of a digital mailbox, not the letters themselves.
  • The domain is recreational fishing — consider the tactics people use to bring a catch in.
  • An ancient two-player board game of strategy — think about its special vocabulary of moves and outcomes.
  • Lean on classical music knowledge; each of these looks like nonsense on its own.
iii Mild spoilers

Pointed nudges on the words built to fool you.

  • These are all labels on the tabs or buttons of a typical email interface — where messages get written and sorted.
  • Each answer names something an angler might offer a fish — either a lure on a line or bait scattered in the water.
  • All four are chess terms — moves you announce, a king-saving action, and the words that end a game.
  • Say each one aloud and let a famous classical surname complete it — the given form is only the opening syllable.

Today’s Trap Words

The words engineered to mislead

Every Connections board plants a few decoys. Here are today’s, and why they pull you the wrong way.

CHUM

It reads first as a casual word for a friend, which tempts solvers to pair it with MATE as a synonym set. The fishing sense stays hidden unless you're already thinking about angling.

MATE

Looks like a buddy, a partner, or a drink rather than a game ending. Its friend-synonym overlap with CHUM is the puzzle's sharpest planted collision.

BEET

A real vegetable that sits beside CHOP and SPAM and suggests an edible-things category that simply doesn't exist on this board.

FLY

First read is the insect or the plain verb, so its lure sense is easy to miss. It also looks like it could belong with anything outdoors.

Connections Answers — September 21, 2026

Tap any group to reveal it
Answers are hidden — tap a group to peek, or reveal all at once.
EMAIL BUTTONS
COMPOSE · SPAM · SENT · DRAFTS
Tap to reveal
WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH
FLY · WORM · CHUM · SPINNER
Tap to reveal
CHESS VERBS
CHECK · MATE · CASTLE · CAPTURE
Tap to reveal
STARTS OF COMPOSERS' NAMES
BEET · BRAH · VIVA · CHOP
Tap to reveal
SEE ALSO:
NYT Wordle hints for September 21, 2026 NYT Pips hints for September 21, 2026 NYT Strands hints for September 21, 2026

Category Breakdown — Puzzle #1198

Why each group works — not just what it is

EMAIL BUTTONS

COMPOSE, DRAFTS, SENT and SPAM are all labels from a mail app's sidebar or toolbar. The group mixes an action with folder names, so it isn't a pure synonym set — a small wrinkle that keeps the easiest group from feeling trivial.

WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH

CHUM, FLY, SPINNER and WORM all describe how an angler draws a fish in, even though only three are physical objects and one is an action. FLY and SPINNER double as everyday words, so the fishing sense only snaps into focus once you commit to the theme.

CHESS VERBS

CAPTURE, CASTLE, CHECK and MATE are things you say or do across the board, with CASTLE and CHECK also carrying strong non-chess meanings. CHECK and MATE form a natural threatening pair that helps confirm the group once spotted.

STARTS OF COMPOSERS' NAMES

BEET, BRAH, CHOP and VIVA are meaningless on their own — each is the opening fragment of a famous composer's surname. BEET and CHOP masquerade as food or butchery, so the group only unlocks when you say each fragment and wait for a familiar name to complete it.

Word Guide — All 16 Puzzle Words

What each word means in this puzzle
WORM
A soft, legless creature that lives in soil, a classic bait for fishing, and a term for a self-copying computer program.
CAPTURE
To seize or take hold of something. In a strategy game it means removing an opponent's piece from the board entirely.
DRAFTS
Early, unfinished versions of a piece of writing. In a mail app it's the folder where messages you've started but haven't finished sit waiting.
COMPOSE
To create or put together, as in writing music or a message. In a mail app it's the button that opens a blank new message, which is the sense used here.
SPAM
Unwanted, bulk-sent messages — and the name of a well-known canned cooked meat. Both senses are familiar, which makes the word a natural decoy.
SENT
The past tense of 'send.' In a mail app it labels the folder holding messages that have already gone out.
CHECK
To examine, verify, or halt something, and also the slip you pay at a restaurant. In a strategy game it's the warning word when a king is under attack.
CHUM
An informal word for a friend in British English, but also bait scattered on the water to draw fish close. The friendship sense is the trap; the angling sense is the point.
SPINNER
Anything that rotates or twirls, including a rotating fishing lure and the turning pointer on a game wheel. The word is broad enough to mislead in several directions.
MATE
A friend, a partner, a beverage in some countries, and the word for trapping an opponent's king to finish a game. Its friendship sense collides neatly with another word on the board.
BRAH
A slangy shortening of 'brother,' used as an informal, casual form of address. Here it appears purely as a sound waiting for a longer name to attach to it.
BEET
A round root vegetable, usually deep red or golden, prized for its sweet earthy flavour. On this board it does double duty as food imagery and as a fragment of something longer.
CHOP
To cut with a heavy blow, or a thick cut of meat. Here it functions as a sound fragment rather than anything to do with cooking.
FLY
An insect with wings, a verb for moving through the air, and a lightweight fishing lure built to imitate an insect. The triple meaning is what makes it slippery.
VIVA
An exclamation meaning 'long live,' and also a spoken examination. On this board it is simply the opening sound of a longer, more familiar name.
CASTLE
A fortified building with towers and battlements. It also names the special game move in which a king and a rook swap places for safety.

Puzzle Design Analysis

Why the editor constructed it this way

Wyna Liu hides the misdirection in surface senses: CHUM and MATE both mean friend, while BEET, CHOP and SPAM read as food, steering solvers toward categories that don't exist. The groups also span different registers — interface labels, board-game actions, angling equipment, name fragments — so success depends on switching frames rather than mastering one vocabulary. Purple's truncation trick works because every fragment is a real word, forcing a completion step.

Difficulty & Analysis

How tough today’s board really plays
Overall
5.6/10
Most deceptive
CHUM

a textbook decoy

Hardest group
Composer Openings

requires lateral thinking

Connections Strategy Guides

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