The Saturday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #986, serving up a grid that rewards grammatical knowledge and wordplay prowess. Today's challenge particularly favors those who can spot sneaky homophones and think beyond surface-level connections.
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 #986:
LATE | GREAT | PAST | LIFE
PRESENT | MINION | INFINITIVE | PERFECT
SOLID | DODGERS | EXCUSED | BACKGROUND
ABSENT | AUDITS | HISTORY | PHEW
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about what you accumulate over time.
Green Category Clue: Consider where you might be marked on a school attendance sheet.
Blue Category Hint: These are words you might say after solving a Connections puzzle.
Purple Category Teaser: Add two letters to each word to reveal familiar brands.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Experience): BACKGROUND, HISTORY, LIFE, PAST
These four words all represent different aspects of accumulated time and personal journey.
They're the narrative of your existence, from personal background to historical context.
Green (Attendance Status): ABSENT, EXCUSED, LATE, PRESENT
This category captures every possible state of being accounted for in a formal setting.
Whether you're physically there, running behind, officially absent, or excused with permission, these cover the attendance spectrum.
Blue (Commentary About Your Connections Results): GREAT, PERFECT, PHEW, SOLID
These are the exclamations and assessments you'd make after successfully solving a Connections puzzle.
From the satisfied "Phew!" to the confident "Perfect!" or "Great!", they're the victory lap vocabulary for puzzle solvers.
Purple (Car Brands Plus Two Letters): AUDITS, DODGERS, INFINITIVE, MINION
The trickiest category requires adding "AU" to each word to reveal car brands: AUDI + TS = AUDITS, DODGE + RS = DODGERS, INFINITI + VE = INFINITIVE, MINI + ON = MINION.
This is classic Connections wordplay that separates casual players from puzzle veterans.
The Verdict
Puzzle #986 registers as moderate difficulty with a sting in the tail.
Yellow falls quickly for anyone who recognizes temporal concepts, while green requires thinking about attendance systems.
Blue separates the puzzle enthusiasts from casual players.
Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, that automotive homophone trick won't reveal itself without serious lateral thinking.
The real trap lies in words like "PAST" and "PRESENT" that could easily mislead solvers into thinking about verb tenses rather than attendance status or experience.
Similarly, "GREAT" and "PERFECT" might initially seem like synonyms rather than puzzle-solving reactions.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone.
Until then, reflect on today's performance: Did you spot the car brand pattern, or did the attendance category trip you up?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #986 is solved.
See you at midnight for round #987.
