Here are some tips and answers for the February 23 NYT Connections Puzzle #988.
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, CNET editor-in-chief, journalist and pop culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She has been a journalist since 1989 and works for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and NBC News Digital. She is part of Generation X in terms of date of birth, words and deeds. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.
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- Co-author of two Gen X pop culture encyclopedias for Penguin Books. Won the “Headline Writer of the Year” award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in the Society for Features Journalism 2013 headline writing.
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Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is full of fun clues, but they’re not so easy to sort into groups. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
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Learn more: Tips, Tricks and Strategies to Help You Win Every Time on NYT Connections
Tips for Today’s Connections Groups
Here are four clues for today’s Connections puzzle groupings, ordered from the easiest yellow group to the difficult (and sometimes weird) purple group.
Yellow group index: Chow down.
Green group index: Shaped like a dunce cap.
Blue group index: Pretend, maybe.
Purple group index: Smooch website.
Answers for Today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Eat voraciously.
Green group: Conical things.
Blue group: Laid.
Purple group: Settings for a kiss.
Learn more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The NYT Connections puzzle completed by February 23, 2026.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETYellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is eating voraciously. The four answers are bolt, throat, inspiration and scarf.
Green words in today’s Connections
The theme is conical things. The four answers are Christmas tree, cone, party hat and volcano.
Blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is pose. The four responses are bluff, facade, charade and posturing.
Purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is the settings of a kiss. The four answers are Blarney Stone, mistletoe, New Year’s Eve, and marriage.