Daily Connections delivered a tidy but tricky mix for Game #1116, splitting straightforward place-derived names from cinema entries and cocktail stand-ins. There were tempting overlaps — exactly the kind that turns a 16-word board into a satisfying logic workout.
Today’s layout rewarded fast pattern recognition early and patience at the end: two very obvious groups and two that required closer reading of word starts and cultural associations.
SPOILER WARNING: Below are full spoilers for NYT Connections Game #1116, including all four group titles and the exact answers. If you want to solve on your own, stop now.
Today’s NYT Connections words
Sixteen words appeared on the board — grouped here in rows of four for easy scanning.
- CHICAGO | LONG ISLAND | NIGERIA | COLOGNE
- INDIANAPOLIS | MUNICH | LIMERICK | SINGAPORE
- CASABLANCA | CUBA | DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | CHAMPAGNE
- GUINEA-BISSAU | CHINA | FARGO | MOSCOW
Today’s NYT Connections hints
Four compact, spoiler-light nudges to help you spot each category.
- 🟡 Yellow: Look for words that are commonly used as names for products, styles or regional specialties tied to specific places.
- 🟢 Green: These are titles you might recognize from the Best Picture conversation — films rather than locations.
- 🔵 Blue: Place names that double as drinks you could order at a bar.
- 🟣 Purple: The trickiest set: words that begin with the name of a country.
Today’s NYT Connections group titles
Here are the official group titles for Game #1116.
- 🟡 Yellow: THINGS NAMED AFTER PLACES
- 🟢 Green: BEST PICTURE WINNERS/NOMINEES
- 🔵 Blue: PLACES IN COCKTAIL NAMES
- 🟣 Purple: STARTING WITH COUNTRIES
What are today’s NYT Connections answers?
All four solved groups for Game #1116, listed with their official titles and members.
- 🟡 Yellow (THINGS NAMED AFTER PLACES): CHAMPAGNE, CHINA, COLOGNE, LIMERICK
- 🟢 Green (BEST PICTURE WINNERS/NOMINEES): CASABLANCA, CHICAGO, FARGO, MUNICH
- 🔵 Blue (PLACES IN COCKTAIL NAMES): CUBA, LONG ISLAND, MOSCOW, SINGAPORE
- 🟣 Purple (STARTING WITH COUNTRIES): DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, GUINEA-BISSAU, INDIANAPOLIS, NIGERIA
Today’s Connections — expert analysis
The most natural entry was the yellow group: CHAMPAGNE, CHINA, COLOGNE and LIMERICK all read immediately as place-derived names you encounter as products or labels, so that set typically clicks first. The blue cocktail set — CUBA, LONG ISLAND, MOSCOW, SINGAPORE — is nearly as obvious for anyone who thinks of drink names, which left the film set and the “starting with countries” set to fight it out for last.
The hardest was the purple group. “Starting with countries” requires a slightly different kind of pattern-spotting: you have to notice smaller country names at the front of longer entries (GUINEA-BISSAU, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, INDIANAPOLIS, NIGERIA) rather than obvious thematic connections. That subtlety created decoys: CHINA looks like it should belong with those because it’s a country, but it actually fits the yellow “named after places” theme; CHICAGO and CASABLANCA pulled double duty as film titles and city names, tempting misassignments between the green film group and place-based yellow group; and FARGO and MUNICH sit squarely in the film set but can feel like locations first. Overall difficulty: a board that starts easy and finishes fiendish — satisfying if you slowed down for the final round.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Game #1115)
For comparison, here are the four groups that appeared in Game #1115.
- 🟡 Yellow (DIVIDING STRUCTURES): FENCE, GATE, HEDGE, WALL
- 🟢 Green (PARTICIPATE IN SOME WINTER OLYMPICS): CURL, LUGE, SKATE, SKI
- 🔵 Blue (COMMON RECYCLABLES): BOTTLE, BOX, CAN, NEWSPAPER
- 🟣 Purple (WHAT “DRAFT” MIGHT REFER TO): BREEZE, ON TAP, RECRUIT, SKETCH
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is a daily logic puzzle that gives you 16 words and asks you to partition them into four groups of four, each group sharing a common theme. The challenge is spotting the patterns while avoiding tempting overlaps and decoys.
How to play NYT Connections
- Scan the 16 words and look for obvious four-word themes.
- Lock in groups you’re confident about to reduce the pool of remaining words.
- Watch for deceptive overlaps — words that seem to fit multiple themes — and save them for later.
- Repeat until all four groups of four are identified.
More daily puzzle help from HashTechWave
- Today’s NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers
- Today’s NYT Spelling Bee answers and pangram
- Today’s Wordle hints, clues and answer
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What time does a new NYT Connections puzzle unlock?
A brand-new puzzle drops every single night at midnight local time across your specific region’s time zone on NYT Connection official site.
Why do some words seem to fit into two different groups?
The puzzle is specifically designed to include “decoys” or overlapping vocabulary. Always look for a backup configuration of words before locking in an early guess to protect your attempt counter.
Can I review answers to older puzzles?
Yes! If you are tracking performance over time or reviewing a grid you missed over the weekend, you can check out our dedicated NYT Connections Past Archive to look over historical solutions.
