NYT Connections puzzle #992, for Friday, February 27, 2026, groups the words into four themes: betrayers, an intangible personal quality, chain-reaction effects, and phrases ending in “press.” The full solution is below; if you want to solve it first, stop before the spoiler break.
The 16 words in Connections #992
JUDAS, DRILL, QUALITY, BUTTERFLY, FRENCH, BENCH, AIR, RIPPLE, SNAKE, SNOWBALL, TRAITOR, MANNER, DOMINO, PRINTING, IMPRESSION, TURNCOAT.
Spoilers: Friday’s Connections answers
Yellow — BACKSTABBER
JUDAS, SNAKE, TRAITOR, TURNCOAT are all labels for someone who betrays another person. JUDAS refers to Judas Iscariot, remembered for betraying Jesus.
Green — AURA
AIR, IMPRESSION, MANNER, QUALITY can each describe an intangible quality or impression associated with a person. This group is about the sense someone gives off, rather than a concrete object.
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Blue — Kinds of chain-reaction “effects”
BUTTERFLY, DOMINO, RIPPLE, SNOWBALL each appears in a familiar metaphor or expression for consequences spreading or accumulating. These are related by the idea of effects, not by identical physical mechanisms.
Purple — ___ PRESS
BENCH, DRILL, FRENCH, PRINTING each completes a familiar phrase: bench press, drill press, French press, and printing press.
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Why the words can mislead
A tempting overlap is that AIR, BUTTERFLY, and FRENCH can all come before “kiss.” But that leaves an incomplete set and mixes words from three intended groups: AIR belongs with AURA, BUTTERFLY with the chain-reaction effects, and FRENCH with the press phrases. The final group becomes clearer when BENCH, DRILL, and PRINTING point toward the shared word “press.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How Connections works
Connections presents 16 words for players to sort into four groups of four. Forbes and TechRadar describe the game as allowing three incorrect guesses before a fourth wrong guess ends the game. Forbes describes it as a free daily New York Times word game available on the NYT website or Games app, and says an All Access or Games subscription enables access to the archive of earlier puzzles. Subscription entitlements and access terms can change, so check the current NYT Games information for the latest details.
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