NYT Connections Answers (February 23): Puzzle #987 Left You Confused? Check Hints, & Solution

NYT Connections February 23 puzzle mixed conical shapes, fast eating, and sweet kiss settings. Check hints and full answers here.

NYT Connections resets every day and has a loyal group of fans who love spotting patterns and testing their thinking skills.

Source : Screenshot/New York Times

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• NYT Connections puzzle features four word groups.
• Themes range from eating fast to conical shapes.
• Romantic settings for a kiss complete the puzzle.

NYT Connections Answer: The New York Times’ daily word game, Connections, returned on Monday, February 23, with another clever challenge. Players were asked to sort 16 words into four hidden groups based on a shared theme. At first glance, some words looked like they clearly belonged together. But as always, the puzzle had a few sneaky tricks.

Some themes were easy to spot, while others needed you to pause and look again. If today’s grid left you confused, don’t worry, here’s a simple breakdown with hints and the full solution.

What Is Connections And How Do You Play?

Connections is a daily puzzle from The New York Times where you group 16 words into four sets of four. Each set shares one common theme. The goal is to figure out what connects each group.

It sounds easy, but it’s not. Many words seem like they could fit in more than one group. That’s where the challenge begins.

For example, “Hook,” “Nana,” “Peter,” and “Wendy” are all characters from Peter Pan. Another example: “Action,” “Ballpark,” “Go,” and “Stick” all commonly come before the word “Figure.”

In the game, you only get four mistakes. If you make four wrong guesses, the puzzle ends, and the answers are shown automatically.

Each group is colour-coded based on difficulty:

 

• Yellow (easiest)

 

• Green (easy)
• Blue (medium)
• Purple (hardest)

The colours help you understand which groups are meant to be simpler and which ones are trickier.

Hints & Full Solution To NYT Connections (February 23)

Here are today’s official hints:

• Yellow: Speed over savour.
• Green: Things that taper to a point.
• Blue: Ways of putting on a face.
• Purple: Traditionally tender moments.

Extra hints:

• Every group except Green has at least one word containing the letter “E”.
• “Mistletoe” and “Christmas Tree” are in different groups.

If you needed one word from each group, here they were:

• Yellow: Gorge
• Green: Cone
• Blue: Front
• Purple: Wedding

Now let’s look at the full solution.

Full Solution for February 23:

• Yellow (Eat Voraciously): Bolt, Gorge, Inhale, Scarf
• Green (Conical Things): Christmas Tree, Cone, Party Hat, Volcano
• Blue (Pose): Bluff, Front, Masquerade, Posture
• Purple (Settings For a Kiss): Blarney Stone, Mistletoe, New Year's Eve, Wedding

This puzzle was fun but still tricky. The Yellow group became clear once you thought about eating very fast. Words like “gorge” and “inhale” made that theme easier to spot.

The Green group may have confused some players at first. A volcano and a Christmas tree don’t seem similar right away. But when you think about shape, they both have a cone-like form. The “Party Hat” clue helped confirm that connection.

The Blue group was about pretending or presenting yourself in a certain way. Words like “bluff,” “front,” and “masquerade” all fit that idea.

The Purple group was sweet and romantic. Mistletoe, New Year's Eve, weddings, and even the Blarney Stone are all places or moments linked to kisses.

Overall, today’s puzzle balanced easy and tricky themes nicely. Some connections were clear, while others needed a second look. That’s what makes Connections so enjoyable every day.

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