Looking for today’s NYT Connections hints and answers? Puzzle #1198 for Monday, September 21, 2026, asks players to sort 16 words into four groups of four. The categories cover email, fishing, chess and classical composers, with the final group relying on wordplay.
If you want to solve the puzzle yourself, start with the clues below. If you are stuck, the complete NYT Connections answers are further down.
NYT Connections Hints for September 21
Here are spoiler-light clues for each group:
- Yellow: Think about actions and folders you use with email.
- Green: These can help you attract fish.
- Blue: Think about actions performed in chess.
- Purple: Look at the beginnings of famous classical composers’ names.
These hints should help narrow down the connections without immediately revealing every word.
Today’s NYT Connections Categories
Still need another clue? Here are the four category names for NYT Connections #1198:
- Yellow: EMAIL BUTTONS
- Green: WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH
- Blue: CHESS VERBS
- Purple: STARTS OF COMPOSERS’ NAMES
The yellow group focuses on familiar email terms. The green category brings together fishing-related methods, while the blue group uses chess terminology as verbs. The purple group is the puzzle’s main wordplay challenge.
NYT Connections Answers for September 21
Spoiler alert: The complete solutions are below.
Yellow: EMAIL BUTTONS
COMPOSE, DRAFTS, SENT, SPAM
These four terms are associated with common email functions or folders. Compose is used to create a message, drafts stores unfinished messages, sent contains delivered messages, and spam identifies unwanted email.
Green: WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH
CHUM, FLY, SPINNER, WORM
These are all associated with attracting or catching fish. Chum can be used as bait, while flies, spinners and worms are familiar fishing choices.
Blue: CHESS VERBS
CAPTURE, CASTLE, CHECK, MATE
Each word describes an action or term used during a chess game. Capture involves taking an opponent’s piece, while castle describes a special king-and-rook move. Check threatens the king, and mate refers to checkmate.
Purple: STARTS OF COMPOSERS’ NAMES
BEET, BRAH, CHOP, VIVA
This is the trickiest category because the words represent the beginnings of famous composers’ names: Beet for Beethoven, Brah for Brahms, Chop for Chopin and Viva for Vivaldi.
How to Solve NYT Connections
A useful approach is to scan the entire grid before submitting a group. Look for four words with an exact relationship rather than stopping after finding two or three that seem connected.
The puzzle allows up to four mistakes, so avoid rushing into a category based on a loose association. Some words are deliberately placed as potential red herrings. Solving an obvious group first can also make the remaining categories easier to identify.
For today’s NYT Connections, email terms such as COMPOSE and DRAFTS may stand out quickly, while the composer category requires players to recognize shortened beginnings of names.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections Answers
For September 20, puzzle #1197, the groups included ROUND FLAT THINGS, ASSOCIATED WITH KENTUCKY, VAMPIRE MOVIES, and words that precede BOARDS YOU RIDE ON.
Today’s puzzle combines familiar vocabulary with increasingly specific connections, making careful grouping more important than simply spotting individual word associations.
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