NYT Connections #993 — Saturday, February 28, 2026: Hints, Categories, and Full Answers
NYT rates today's puzzle a 2.8 out of 5 for difficulty — moderate overall, but the Purple category is the kind of sneaky wordplay trap that ends streaks. All 16 words in today's puzzle are: CRUISE DIRECTOR, DESIRE, ITCH, KNEEL, TAILOR, RUSTLE, NOVAK, URGE, ROADIE, THIRST, PILOT, SALESMAN, SUNG, EARNEST, START, and COMETH.
Today's Connections Hints — No Spoilers Yet
Today's category hints are: Need For Something, On The Go, Sounds Like A Name, and In Space With One Extra. The Purple category is where most players will stumble — think about what these words have in common beyond their surface meaning. The Blue group involves homophones, not definitions. Start with Yellow if you want an easy win.
⚠️ Full Answers Below — Stop Scrolling If Still Solving
The answers for today's NYT Connections puzzle #993 are: Yellow Group — Craving: DESIRE, ITCH, THIRST, and URGE. Green Group — Jobs That Involve Traveling: CRUISE DIRECTOR, PILOT, ROADIE, and SALESMAN. Blue Group — Name Homophones: EARNEST, KNEEL, RUSTLE, and TAILOR. Purple Group — Astronomical Terms Plus A Letter: COMETH, NOVAK, START, and SUNG.
Breaking Down Each Category
The Yellow group is the cleanest entry point today. DESIRE, ITCH, THIRST, and URGE all describe a craving or wanting — synonyms for the same deeply human feeling. If you spotted any one of those four, the others should have fallen into place quickly.
The Green group covers jobs that require constant travel. PILOT and CRUISE DIRECTOR are obvious, but ROADIE — a touring crew member for a band — and SALESMAN are the trickier pair. Thinking about whose job literally requires them to be on the move unlocks the entire group.
The Blue group is pure wordplay. EARNEST sounds like the name Ernest, KNEEL sounds like Neil, RUSTLE sounds like Russell, and TAILOR sounds like Taylor. Four common names hiding in plain sight as ordinary English words — a classic Connections misdirect.
The Purple Trap: Astronomical Terms Plus A Letter
The Purple category is where the puzzle earns its difficulty rating. COMETH, NOVAK, START, and SUNG are each an astronomical term with one extra letter added: COMET + H, NOVA + K, STAR + T, and SUN + G. The trap is that START looks like a completely normal word, SUNG sounds musical, and NOVAK reads like a surname. Once you see "STAR + T," the whole group unlocks instantly — but getting there is the hard part.
Tomorrow's Connections: Sunday, March 1, Puzzle #994
Sunday's Connections puzzle lands at midnight ET tonight. Based on early pattern analysis, tomorrow's Yellow category relates to things that are folded. The Green category relates to words meaning to move quickly. The Blue category relates to types of music genres with a hidden twist. The Purple category — as always — is the one designed to make you doubt every guess you have made.
