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These are the hints and answers for the New York Times Connections puzzle dated Monday, February 9, 2026—game #974. If you’re looking for “today’s” answers, check the date: this page covers that specific puzzle, not the current day’s game. Reveal hints first, then stop before the spoiler section if you want to solve it yourself.
February 9 Connections word list
The board contains 16 words to sort into four groups of four:
- APPROACH
- BONUS
- POKER
- NEEDLE
- STRAWS
- LOOM
- STYLE
- ADVANCE
- NEAR
- WAY
- SCISSORS
- FEE
- ROYALTY
- YARN
- MANNER
- THE LINE
Graduated hints for Connections #974
Try the category clues before moving on to the representative words. The final section below reveals the categories and complete groups.
- Yellow: These can help you connect the threads.
- Green: Trust the process.
- Blue: Wordsmiths’ wonga.
- Purple: Like fire, string and bridge.
One-word nudges
If you want a little more help, one answer from each group is SCISSORS, STYLE, ADVANCE, and THE LINE, in that order.
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Spoilers: categories and answers
Stop here if you’re still solving. The category names and all 16 answers follow.
Yellow — Used in weaving
LOOM, NEEDLE, SCISSORS, YARN
Green — Method
APPROACH, MANNER, STYLE, WAY
Blue — Kinds of payment for an author
ADVANCE, BONUS, FEE, ROYALTY
Purple — Draw ___
NEAR, POKER, STRAWS, THE LINE
The purple set completes four familiar phrases: draw near, draw poker, draw straws, and draw the line. For the complete grid, Forbes and Try Hard Guides independently list the same game number and groups: Forbes’ February 9, 2026 guide and Try Hard Guides’ February 9, 2026 answers. These are secondary answer guides; an official NYT page for this specific archived puzzle was not verified.
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Rank #2
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