Spoilers: The March 8, 2026, NYT Connections puzzle was game #1001. Its four groups were Cities, Palindromes, Horror movies minus “S,” and words starting with slang for zero.
NYT Connections answers for March 8, 2026
Here are all sixteen words, sorted into their groups:
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Cities | LIMA, NICE, OSAKA, PHOENIX |
| Green | Palindromes | EYE, REFER, ROTATOR, SELES |
| Blue | Horror movies minus “S” | GREMLIN, JAW, SINNER, TREMOR |
| Purple | Starting with slang for zero | JACKET, NADAL, SQUATTER, ZIPPER |
TechRadar identifies this as game #1001 and gives the same board and solution; WordCheats independently lists matching categories and answers. TechRadar’s March 8 guide was published March 7, 2026, ahead of the puzzle date. WordCheats’ March 8 answer page also matches.
Why the categories can be tricky
The tennis-name false lead
NADAL, SELES, OSAKA, and SINNER all suggest famous tennis players, making them tempting to group together. The board splits them across three answers: OSAKA is a city, SELES is a palindrome, and NADAL belongs to the purple wordplay group. SINNER is in the blue group.
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Blue: horror titles without their final S
Add a final “S” to each blue answer and the words become horror-film titles: GREMLINS, JAWS, SINNERS, and TREMORS.
Purple: slang for zero at the start
Each purple word begins with a slang term for zero: “jack” in JACKET, “nada” in NADAL, “squat” in SQUATTER, and “zip” in ZIPPER.
Rank #2
Green: words that read the same backward
EYE, REFER, ROTATOR, and SELES are palindromes: each reads the same from left to right and right to left.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the daily puzzle date works
Connections gives players sixteen words to arrange into four groups of four, with difficulty colors running from yellow (easiest) to purple (trickiest), according to the New York Times Help Center. The daily puzzle releases at midnight in each player’s timezone, so a date label may correspond to a different local release moment.
The daily game is available on the NYT website and in its Games and News apps, free without registration. The Help Center says the archive, which goes back to June 12, 2023, is available to All Access and Games subscribers; an NYT account is required to save archived progress.
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