The New York Times’ Connections puzzle asks you to sort 16 words into four secret groups of four, each tied together by a shared idea, phrase, or pattern. Your job is to spot the underlying link before you burn through your four mistakes, with each solved group lighting up in yellow, green, blue, or purple to mark increasing difficulty.
NYT Connections Puzzle Overview: 21 February 2026
Today’s grid gives you a mix of time-related words, classroom vibes, and a few stray entries that seem to have wandered in from totally different contexts. The full list of words is: LATE, GREAT, PAST, LIFE, PRESENT, MINION, INFINITIVE, PERFECT, SOLID, DODGERS, EXCUSED, BACKGROUND, ABSENT, AUDITS, HISTORY, PHEW.
At first glance, it’s easy to latch onto tense words like PAST, PRESENT, and PERFECT, or to group GREAT, SOLID, and PERFECT as generic praise, but those tempting clusters don’t quite hold up once you try to place everything else. Instead, pay attention to school roll call, biography-style labels, and what happens if you mentally tweak some of the trickier leftovers.
NYT Connections Hints: 21 February 2026
Use the graded hints below if you want a nudge without immediately spoiling the categories.
Category 1
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Think about how you might describe everything that has shaped a person.
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These words often appear in bios, résumés, or origin stories.
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Each one suggests what someone has “been through” over time.
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If you’re talking about someone’s prior knowledge or upbringing, you’re in the right lane.
Category 2
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Picture a teacher taking roll at the start of class.
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These words track whether someone is there or not.
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You’ll see them in attendance sheets, work logs, and school notes home.
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Think of all the possible statuses when someone’s name is called aloud.
Category 3
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Imagine how you’d react after a clean Connections solve (or a near miss).
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These words sound like quick reactions to good news, strong performance, or relief.
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You might text them to a friend who just nailed the puzzle.
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They’re short, upbeat exclamations or compliments.
Category 4
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This is the sneakiest group: you need to alter each word slightly.
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Add two letters to each word to reveal well-known car brands.
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Some require tacking letters on at the end, others near the middle.
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Focus on major automakers; once you see one, the rest should follow.
NYT Connections Answers: 21 February 2026
Ready to see how everything fits together? Here are today’s categories and groups, ordered from easiest (yellow) to trickiest (purple).
Category 1 – EXPERIENCE (Yellow)
Category 2 – ATTENDANCE STATUS (Green)
Category 3 – COMMENTARY ABOUT YOUR CONNECTIONS RESULTS (Blue)
Category 4 – CAR BRANDS PLUS TWO LETTERS (Purple)
Conclusion & Quick Strategy Tip
The 21 February 2026 Connections puzzle rewards solvers who can resist the obvious tense-based grouping and instead notice how several words cluster around school attendance and life experience. The final breakthrough usually comes from spotting just one car brand hiding in the purple set—once AUDI or MINI clicks into place, the whole “+ two letters” gimmick becomes impossible to ignore.
Quick strategy tip: when you’re stuck with a random-looking mix of leftovers, test whether tweaking the spelling—adding or removing a couple of letters—reveals proper nouns, brand names, or familiar phrases. That kind of structural twist shows up often in Connections and can be the key to turning a messy board into a satisfying final group.
