NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Sunday, September 1 (game #448)

NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
(Image credit: New York Times)

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Your Connections expert
Marc McLaren
Your Connections expert
Marc McLaren

Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief and has been obsessed with Wordle and its ilk for more than two years. He's authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar, including a daily today's Wordle answer column and a detailed analysis of the most common letters in Wordle in every position. He's also played every Wordle ever and only lost once and yes, he takes it all too seriously.

NYT Connections today (game #448) - today's words

NYT Connections hints for game 448 on a purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

  • CHARCOAL
  • HAMMER
  • GOLF BAG
  • GRILL
  • TOOLBOX
  • RAVEN
  • LIMOUSINE
  • JET
  • BROWN
  • DRUM
  • SABLE
  • CHAR
  • ANVIL
  • MOVIE SET
  • SEAR
  • CANAL

NYT Connections today (game #448) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • Yellow: Stove top cuisine?
  • Green: Aural areas
  • Blue: Paint it…
  • Purple: All could contain something/someone that gets you somewhere

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #448) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • YELLOW: COOK IN A PAN BROWN, CHAR, GRILL, SEAR
  • GREEN: PARTS OF THE EAR
  • BLUE: SHADES OF BLACK
  • PURPLE: WHERE YOU MIGHT FIND “A DRIVER”

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #448) - the answers

NYT Connections answers for game 448 on a purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #448, are…

  • YELLOW: COOK IN A PAN BROWN, CHAR, GRILL, SEAR
  • GREEN: PARTS OF THE EAR ANVIL, CANAL, DRUM, HAMMER
  • BLUE: SHADES OF BLACK CHARCOAL, JET, RAVEN, SABLE
  • PURPLE: WHERE YOU MIGHT FIND “A DRIVER” GOLF BAG, LIMOUSINE, MOVIE SET, TOOLBOX

  • My rating: Moderate
  • My score: Fail

Connections is ultimately a game of knowledge and I am just going to have to accept that I do not have enough of that. Or maybe not enough of the type that the NYT values. It's something of an anomaly, because I solve the likes of Wordle, Quordle and Strands every day (or almost every day in the case of the latter two), and I've generally been quite adept at quizzes. But this… this is ridiculous. It's my eighth failure in 15 games and my fourth in a row, which is unprecedented for me and possibly for the entire world. I might well be the biggest loser anywhere right now.

The argument against that – and the thing I'm clinging on to – is that you could argue that some of this knowledge is arcane, unnecessary and really quite random. For instance, green today, 'Parts of the ear': I knew CANAL and DRUM, but ANVIL and HAMMER… nope. And why should I know that? Or DRIVER being something you'd find in a TOOLBOX or on a MOVIE SET? Again, no idea.

So OK, that's what I'll stick with for now. The problem is the NYT's Connections puzzle setter, not me. Let's go with that.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.


Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 31 August, game #447)

  • YELLOW: NEWSPAPER SECTIONS
  • GREEN: TREE FEATURES
  • BLUE: KINDS OF SALAD CHEF, GARDEN, GREEK, WEDGE
  • PURPLE: SEEN ON BACKS OF U.S. COINS EAGLE, MONTICELLO, SHIELD, TORCH

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Marc McLaren
Global Editor in Chief

Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief, the latest in a long line of senior editorial roles he’s held in a career that started the week that Google launched (nice of them to mark the occasion). Prior to joining TR, he was UK Editor in Chief on Tom’s Guide, where he oversaw all gaming, streaming, audio, TV, entertainment, how-to and cameras coverage. He's also a former editor of the tech website Stuff and spent five years at the music magazine NME, where his duties mainly involved spoiling other people’s fun. He’s based in London, and has tested and written about phones, tablets, wearables, streaming boxes, smart home devices, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, games, TVs, cameras and pretty much every other type of gadget you can think of. An avid photographer, Marc likes nothing better than taking pictures of very small things (bugs, his daughters) or very big things (distant galaxies). He also enjoys live music, gaming, cycling, and beating Wordle (he authors the daily Wordle today page).