Buzz
If you're searching for the answer to the Connections puzzle on Friday, September 8, 2023, keep reading. I'll provide clues, strategies, and eventually reveal the solutions to all four categories. Warning: Spoilers ahead for NYT Connections #89 on September 8! Scroll to the bottom for hints and the final answer to today's game.
For easy access to daily Connections hints, bookmark this page. You can also explore past hints to catch up on any puzzles you might have missed.
A Guide to Playing Connections
For a comprehensive guide on playing Connections, here's a quick recap of the rules:
Start by accessing the Connections game either on the New York Times website or through their Crossword app. The game board displays 16 tiles, each containing a word or phrase. Your objective is to identify a group of four tiles that share a common theme. These could be similar items (e.g., RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW, which are all forms of precipitation) or involve wordplay (e.g., BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH, which are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, etc.).
Choose four items and click the Submit button. A correct guess will reveal the category and its corresponding color (yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple). If your guess is wrong, you’ll have another opportunity to try.
You win the game by correctly identifying all four groups. However, if you make four incorrect guesses before completing the puzzle, the game ends, and the answers are displayed.
Strategies to Win Connections
To succeed in Connections, understand that the groupings are intentionally deceptive. Be prepared for overlapping categories. For instance, one puzzle appeared to feature six breakfast items: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. However, BACON was part of a painters group alongside CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, while EGG belonged to a category of items that come in dozens (like JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). Always double-check that your group of four items fits exclusively within one category before submitting.
When you're stuck, focus on words that seem unrelated to the rest. For example, if WHISTLER only reminds you of the famous painting “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be onto something. During my attempt, I researched whether Close was a painter’s name, as it didn’t align with any obvious themes.
Another strategy for overcoming challenges is to seek hints. Below, I’ll provide subtle clues for today’s Connections answers. Further down, I’ll reveal the themes and solutions. Scroll carefully and use only the hints you need!
Does today’s Connections puzzle require any specialized knowledge?
Today’s puzzle includes more movies, but they’re confined to a single category. (If you have children or were recently a child yourself, you’ll likely recognize them, as they’re all well-known films.)
One category includes items that might be less familiar to younger audiences, though I can’t elaborate without revealing too much. While the technology may be outdated, the terms remain in use, so they shouldn’t be entirely unfamiliar.
Clues for today’s Connections puzzle themes
Here are some hints for today’s Connections groupings, free of spoilers:
Yellow category - This one touches the core of the matter.
Green category - This one appeals to your appetite (or perhaps your liver?).
Blue category - This one is a visual delight.
Purple category - This one involves a somewhat sticky scenario.
Does today’s Connections puzzle include any wordplay?
Today’s puzzle includes a fill-in-the-blank category, but aside from that, there’s nothing overly complex.
Are you ready to hear the answers? Continue scrolling if you’d like a bit more assistance.
WARNING: Spoilers for today’s Connections puzzle are ahead!
We’re about to reveal some of the answers. Scroll carefully if you wish to avoid spoilers. (The complete solution is located further down.)
What are the ambiguous terms in today’s Connections puzzle?
SCOTCH can refer to a type of whiskey, an outdated and offensive term for Scottish individuals, or a brand of adhesive tape.
COCO is an emotional Pixar film or another term for coconut. It should not be confused with cocoa, which is a powder derived from the cacao (chocolate) tree.
A TICKER might be a colloquial term for your heart or a watch. It also refers to a machine that prints stock prices on paper strips—the origin of “ticker tape parade” and the digital stock ticker seen on news channels.
ESSENCE can denote the magazine focused on Black fashion, culture, and lifestyle or the idea of capturing the fundamental qualities of something. Extracting plant essences into oils or other forms gives us terms like “essential oil” and the concept of “essence” as a fragrance.
SAKE can mean a purpose or benefit (“do it for the children’s sake”) or the Japanese rice wine often served warm.
What are the categories in today’s Connections puzzle?
Yellow: INHERENT NATURE
Green: FERMENTED BEVERAGES
Blue: PIXAR MOVIES
Purple: ____ TAPE
DOUBLE WARNING: THE FULL SOLUTION IS BELOW
Are you ready to discover the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I’ll reveal them all below.
Which words belong to the yellow category in today’s Connections?
The yellow group is designed to be the simplest. Today’s yellow theme is INHERENT NATURE, and the words are: ESSENCE, HEART, SPIRIT, SOUL.
Which words are part of the green category in today’s Connections?
The green group is intended to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is FERMENTED BEVERAGES (note: there’s a typo in “fermented,” but it will likely be corrected by the time you read this), and the words are: CIDER, PORT, SAKE, STOUT.
Which words fall under the blue category in today’s Connections?
The blue group is ranked as the second-most challenging. Today’s blue theme is PIXAR MOVIES, and the words are: BRAVE, CARS, COCO, UP.
Which words are included in the purple category for today’s Connections?
The purple group is regarded as the most difficult. The theme for today’s purple category is ____ TAPE, and the words are: DEMO, RED, SCOTCH, TICKER.
How I figured out today’s Connections puzzle
Following yesterday’s movie theme, BRAVE and HEART caught my attention...not again, right? This time, movies are confined to a single category, and Braveheart isn’t part of it. I couldn’t associate COCO with anything other than the film; it seemed to fit with BRAVE, SOUL, CARS, and UP, which already felt excessive. (I nearly included RED before recalling that the coming-of-age film featuring the red panda and the maxi pad joke was titled Turning Red.)
When faced with too many choices, a helpful approach is to focus on items with limited possibilities. TICKER could mean HEART or refer to ticker tape. With this in mind, I searched for other types of tape. RED tape was clear, but it took a moment of thinking “Brave tape? Spirit tape?” before realizing DEMO tape and SCOTCH tape could fit. (Interestingly, Scotch tape was named after the stereotype of Scottish frugality. An early version had minimal adhesive, leading someone to jokingly call it “Scotch,” and the company adopted it as a quirky name.)
What next? SPIRIT and SOUL share similar meanings; pairing them with HEART and ESSENCE created a cohesive group. Finally, I narrowed it down to four animated films (BRAVE, COCO, CARS, UP) and four alcoholic beverages. Puzzle complete.
Connections Puzzle #89 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩
