Today's Connections Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, September 2

If you're looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, September 2, 2023, read on--I'll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 2, NYT Connections #83! Scroll to the end if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today's Connections game.

By the way, if you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here's a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You'll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you'll get a chance to try again.

You win when you've correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don't hit "submit" until you've confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you're stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed "Whistler's Mother," you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn't fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you're stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints. Below, I'll give you some oblique hints at today's Connections answers. And further down the page, I'll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Does today's Connections game require any special knowledge?

Nope, nothing too unusual. If you have an extremely basic working knowledge of popular sports and things that happen in beauty parlors, you're golden.

Hints for the themes in today's Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today's Connections:

Does today's Connections game involve any wordplay?

Not today! All of the categories relate to the meanings of the words, not to their spelling or the way they can be used elsewhere. As always, though, there are words that could fit into more than one category depending on how they are used grammatically, or even how they are pronounced. (Is POLISH a nationality or a verb?)

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers and answers follow for today's Connections puzzle!

Ready to learn the answers to today's Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today's Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today's yellow group is AU NATUREL and the words are: BARE, NAKED, NUDE, UNCLAD

What are the green words in today's Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today's green category is BAKED GOODS and the words are: BUN, DANISH, MUFFIN, TURNOVER

What are the blue words in today's Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today's blue category is AMERICAN FOOTBALL ACTIONS and the words are: FUMBLE, PUNT, SACK, SNAP

What are the purple words in today's Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today's purple category is MANICURE STEPS and the words are: BUFF, CLIP, FILE, POLISH (not in that order, of course.)

How I solved today's Connections

It was obvious at first glance that one group would relate to nudity, and one to football. I almost submitted SNAP, FUMBLE, TURNOVER, and PUNT before realizing SACK was in there too. So I deselected those words and looked at the rest.

DANISH and POLISH looked like they were meant to go together, but with no other nationalities, I wondered if DANISH meant the pastry. It could go with MUFFIN, TURNOVER, and BUN--and that was a hit. That narrowed my football terms down to four, and I submitted those as well.

Now I could turn my attention to the nudity theme. NUDE, NAKED, UNCLAD, and BARE all fit; BUFF seemed grammatically out of place. You might say that a person is "in the buff," but not "in the naked." ("In the nude" would work, but we more commonly just say that they are nude, naked, or unclad. Saying someone "is buff" means another thing entirely.)

What remains? CLIP, POLISH, and FILE. Those are all verbs for things you can do to fingernails--and so is BUFF. I entered those, and then NUDE, NAKED, UNCLAD, and BARE. Another "perfect" win, although you see I had to puzzle my way through it.