NYT Connections February 23 2026 Answers
Puzzle #988
EDITED BY WYNA LIUToday's 16-word board, in its starting order:
NEW YEAR'S EVE VOLCANO MASQUERADE PARTY HAT CHRISTMAS TREE MISTLETOE GORGE BLUFF POSTURE CONE WEDDING BOLT SCARF BLARNEY STONE INHALE FRONT
Category hints (no spoilers)
Yellow — EAT VORACIOUSLY
Green — CONICAL THINGS
Blue — POSE
Purple — SETTINGS FOR A KISS
EAT VORACIOUSLYBOLT, GORGE, INHALE, SCARF
CONICAL THINGSCHRISTMAS TREE, CONE, PARTY HAT, VOLCANO
POSEBLUFF, FRONT, MASQUERADE, POSTURE
SETTINGS FOR A KISSBLARNEY STONE, MISTLETOE, NEW YEAR'S EVE, WEDDING
Checked against the official NYT Connections solution
How Connections works
Connections gives you 16 words that form four secret groups of four. Find each group — yellow is the easiest, then green, blue, and the famously tricky purple. You're allowed four mistakes. A new puzzle drops daily at midnight; play free at nytimes.com.