The latest Sunday edition of the New York Times “Connections” puzzle, covered by Erik Kain on Forbes, offered a challenging brain teaser with four thematic groups of words to connect. The puzzle, dated September 13, 2026, required solvers to categorize sixteen words into four distinct sets. Each group was defined by unique linking characteristics, ranging from word endings to historical references, making the puzzle a thoughtful exercise for fans of the game.

The four groups in this puzzle were: words describing softness or lack of firmness, names of U.S. presidents, words that phonetically sound like a combination of two letters, and words ending with geographic high points or elevated landforms. For example, the yellow group contained terms like “droopy,” “flaccid,” “sagging,” and “slack,” all related to softness or limpness. The green group featured presidential names: “Cleveland,” “Garfield,” “Grant,” and “Madison.”

The blue group’s connection was more phonetic, including words such as “empty,” “excess,” “kewpie,” and “odie” that sound like pairs of letters when spoken aloud, like M-T or Q-P. Meanwhile, the purple group’s words — “doublespeak,” “heathcliff,” “paramount,” and “porridge” — shared a suffix connection to elevated landforms such as cliffs, mounts, ridges, and peaks, highlighting a clever use of word endings to unify them.

Kain reflected on the puzzle’s tricky aspects, notably the initial misdirection when encountering familiar cartoon characters like Garfield and Odie, initially misleading solvers away from their actual categorization. He encourages puzzle enthusiasts to engage with the NYT Games app’s new features, which include variations like “Wordle In 1” and “Connections 3x3,” expanding the ways players can enjoy these popular word challenges.