The Saturday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #1168, serving up a grid that rewards practical know-how, produce vocabulary, outdoor familiarity, and a sharp eye for entertainment wordplay.
What Makes Connections Tick
For newcomers, NYT Connections presents 16 words that must be sorted into four thematic groups of four. The twist? You're limited to four mistakes, and the color-coded difficulty system (yellow being easiest, purple being trickiest) means surface-level connections often mislead.
Since its June 2023 launch, Connections has carved out its niche in the Times' puzzle ecosystem, standing alongside Wordle and the crossword as a daily ritual for millions of players worldwide. The game's genius lies in its red herrings, words that could fit multiple categories but belong in only one.
Today's Grid at a Glance
Here are the 16 words staring back at you in puzzle #1168:
BITTER | SPICE | MEAN | WINTER
HAMMER | CONE | PLANE | JET
GOLDEN | SAW | MIST | MUSK
GILMORE | CHISEL | WATER | SHOWER
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about the sturdy handheld equipment used to shape and assemble raw material in a workshop.
Green Category Clue: Head to the produce aisle and consider varieties from one sprawling plant family.
Blue Category Hint: Picture adjusting an outdoor nozzle and cycling through its different spray patterns.
Purple Category Teaser: Each entry can come before the same plural noun in a familiar entertainment name.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Carpentry Tools): CHISEL, HAMMER, PLANE, SAW
CHISEL, HAMMER, PLANE, and SAW are CARPENTRY TOOLS, covering cutting, striking, carving, and smoothing work.
PLANE creates the clearest decoy because JET also points toward aviation, but JET belongs with the nozzle patterns.
Green (Kinds Of Melon): BITTER, MUSK, WATER, WINTER
BITTER, MUSK, WATER, and WINTER form KINDS OF MELON: bitter melon, muskmelon, watermelon, and winter melon.
WATER is the deliberate tug toward SHOWER, MIST, and JET, while GOLDEN offers another produce-flavored distraction from the final wordplay set.
Blue (Garden Hose Settings): CONE, JET, MIST, SHOWER
CONE, JET, MIST, and SHOWER are GARDEN HOSE SETTINGS, each describing a distinct pattern or delivery of spray from an adjustable nozzle.
JET pairs temptingly with PLANE, and SHOWER naturally attracts WATER, so this group becomes cleaner once the workshop and produce sets are separated.
Purple (___ Girls Of Pop Culture): GILMORE, GOLDEN, MEAN, SPICE
GILMORE, GOLDEN, MEAN, and SPICE each open a pop-culture name ending in Girls: Gilmore Girls, The Golden Girls, Mean Girls, and the Spice Girls.
The trick hides because the four fragments span television, film, and music instead of pointing to a single medium.
The Verdict
The workshop set should fall first, with CHISEL, HAMMER, and SAW providing a firm core before PLANE joins them.
The real trap runs through WATER and GOLDEN, since both can draw attention toward produce while WATER also leans toward SHOWER and MIST.
The purple set decides the clean finish because recognizing the shared Girls ending frees GOLDEN from the produce decoy and locks four entertainment names into place.
Reset and Repeat
Today's best flourish is the cross-medium Girls construction, especially the way GOLDEN disguises itself beside the produce terms. Reset the grid tomorrow and look for another shared ending hiding across unrelated corners of culture.
For now, puzzle #1168 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
