Yellow group
Most direct
First nudge
Look at the final letters of each tile.
Stronger nudge
Each tile finishes with a chemical element you might find in jewelry or cookware, from a can metal to a precious one.
Group name
Ending in metal elements
Connections hint #1193: September 16, 2026
Step-by-step hints and answers for Connections #1193, from Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
Wednesday is a demanding one. Very little on the board means what it first seems to, and the surface readings are mostly there to distract you. One tempting idea links tiles from several groups, and following it costs a guess. Expect to work slowly, and do not be surprised if your first correct group comes after a fair amount of staring. Patience pays more than speed today.
- FRANK-N-FURTER
- LATIN
- CLINK
- PENNYWISE
- WADSWORTH
- NICKELODEON
- BORAT
- LONG JOHN SILVER
- ST. VINCENT
- STEAM IRON
- WIDENER
- DIMENSION
- QUARTERBACK
- CARLOS
- MARIGOLD
- BARRETT
Hints for Connections #1193
Open one step at a time. Step three names the group, so stop earlier if you want more of a challenge. New to the game? Read how to play Connections first, or see what the four colors mean.
Green group
Fairly direct
First nudge
Check how each tile begins.
Stronger nudge
Each starts with the name of a piece of American pocket change, from one cent to twenty-five.
Group name
Starting with U.S. coins
Blue group
Takes some thought
First nudge
Think about famous writers who used all three of their names.
Stronger nudge
Each is the middle name of a celebrated poet, including the author of The Song of Hiawatha and the writer of the sonnet that begins How do I love thee.
Group name
Poets' middle names
Purple group
Trickiest
First nudge
Try removing one letter from each tile.
Stronger nudge
Take out a single letter and each becomes a kind of sausage, from a hot dog to a bratwurst.
Group name
Sausages plus a letter
Show the trap
BORAT sets the wrong idea in motion. A bumbling TV reporter from the movies, a pirate, a clown and a mad scientist all have a tile here, and a set of famous fictional characters looks ready-made. Those four actually land in three different groups, so stop asking where each name comes from and look hard at how it is spelled.
More ways to dodge red herrings: our Connections tips.
Word meanings
Some meanings point toward a group, so they stay hidden until you open them.
Show meanings for 6 tricky words
- FRANK-N-FURTER
- Dr. Frank-N-Furter is the flamboyant scientist in The Rocky Horror Show and its 1975 film version, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
- PENNYWISE
- Careful with small sums of money, as in the saying penny wise and pound foolish. Also the name of the clown in Stephen King's novel It.
- NICKELODEON
- An early movie theater that charged a nickel for admission, and later the name of a children's TV channel.
- WIDENER
- Something that makes a thing wider. Widener Library is also the main library of Harvard University.
- ST. VINCENT
- A Caribbean island, part of the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the stage name of the musician Annie Clark.
- LONG JOHN SILVER
- The one-legged pirate in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. The American seafood restaurant chain Long John Silver's is named after him.
Answers for Connections #1193
This section shows all four groups. Only open it if you're finished or ready to give up.
Show all four groups
-
Ending in metal elements
LATIN, LONG JOHN SILVER, MARIGOLD, STEAM IRON
Words that end in a metal element: LATIN (tin), LONG JOHN SILVER (silver), MARIGOLD (gold) and STEAM IRON (iron).
-
Starting with U.S. coins
DIMENSION, NICKELODEON, PENNYWISE, QUARTERBACK
Words that start with a U.S. coin: DIMENSION (dime), NICKELODEON (nickel), PENNYWISE (penny) and QUARTERBACK (quarter).
-
Poets' middle names
BARRETT, CARLOS, ST. VINCENT, WADSWORTH
Middle names of poets: Elizabeth BARRETT Browning, William CARLOS Williams, Edna ST. VINCENT Millay and Henry WADSWORTH Longfellow.
-
Sausages plus a letter
BORAT, CLINK, FRANK-N-FURTER, WIDENER
Sausages with one extra letter: BORAT (brat), CLINK (link), FRANK-N-FURTER (frankfurter) and WIDENER (wiener).
The solve at a glance
The coins are the most visible way in: DIMENSION, NICKELODEON, PENNYWISE and QUARTERBACK each open with pocket change. LATIN, MARIGOLD and STEAM IRON then point to metal endings, and LONG JOHN SILVER completes them, which breaks up the cast of characters. Poetry fans can group BARRETT, CARLOS, ST. VINCENT and WADSWORTH, and BORAT, CLINK, FRANK-N-FURTER and WIDENER each hide a sausage behind one added letter.
Want to get better at spotting groups? Start with what the four colors mean.
Answers checked against the official answers by Alan. This puzzle appeared on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
More Connections puzzles
Every puzzle keeps its own page with the same nudges, meanings and answers, so you can go back to any day.
Looking for a different day? Use the links below, or head to today's Connections hint. Every puzzle from September 2026 is listed on the September 2026 archive page.