Need a nudge for the March 8, 2026, NYT Connections puzzle? Start with the spoiler-light clues below, then open the full answer key only if you want all 16 words revealed. TechRadar identifies this board as game #1001.
Hints for the March 8 Connections puzzle
Try these category clues in order. Stop whenever you have enough to keep solving without seeing the full groups.
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- Yellow: Places to live
- Green: Mirror words
- Blue: Alien or The Bird could be others
- Purple: Beginning with nothing
Full answer key
Spoiler warning: The groups and all 16 words are below.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute| Color | Category | Words |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 |
How the groups fit
- Cities: Lima, Nice, Osaka and Phoenix are city names.
- Palindromes: EYE, REFER, ROTATOR and SELES read the same forwards and backwards.
- Horror Movies Minus “S”: Add an “s” to the end of GREMLIN, JAW, SINNER and TREMOR to get horror-film titles.
- Starting With Slang For Zero: JACKET begins with “jack,” NADAL with “nada,” SQUATTER with “squat,” and ZIPPER with “zip”—slang terms for nothing.
How Connections works and where to replay this board
Connections presents 16 words and asks players to sort them into four groups of four that share a theme. The groups are color-coded from Yellow, the easiest, through Green and Blue to Purple, the trickiest. Some words can appear to fit more than one category, but each puzzle has one intended solution. The daily puzzle becomes available at midnight in the player’s timezone, according to the New York Times Help Center.
You can play Connections through the NYT Games website and the Games and News apps, among other NYT platforms. To replay the March 8 board, use the official archive: it goes back to June 12, 2023 and is available to All Access and Games subscribers. Archive play affects puzzle statistics, but not current or maximum streaks, according to the Help Center.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.About this puzzle’s difficulty report
TechRadar’s guide labels the board game #1001 and reports that its author rated it “Hard” after making three mistakes. That is one writer’s personal solve experience, not an official difficulty rating or a statistic about all players. WordCheats also lists the same four group assignments.
Quick Recap
Rank #2
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