Fans of The New York Times’ popular word-grouping game Connections can find the full breakdown of Sunday’s puzzle here, including hints, category themes and the complete answer key for Connections #1190, published Sept. 13, 2026.

Connections challenges players to sort 16 seemingly unrelated words into four groups of four, with each group sharing a hidden connection. The puzzle presents categories in ascending order of difficulty, color-coded yellow, green, blue and purple, with yellow typically the most straightforward and purple reserved for the trickiest wordplay or most obscure connections.

Today’s four categories

Sunday’s puzzle grouped its 16 words into the following categories: Lacking in Firmness, U.S. Presidents, Words That Sound Like Two Letters, and Ending in Elevated Landforms.

The yellow group, Lacking in Firmness, consisted of DROOPY, FLACCID, SAGGING and SLACK, four words describing something limp or without rigidity.

The green group, U.S. Presidents, included CLEVELAND, GARFIELD, GRANT and MADISON, a straightforward category built around the surnames of former American commanders in chief.

The blue group, Words That Sound Like Two Letters, contained EMPTY, EXCESS, KEWPIE and ODIE. Each word, when spoken aloud, phonetically resembles a two-letter combination: EMPTY sounds like “MT,” EXCESS sounds like “XS,” KEWPIE sounds like “QP,” and ODIE sounds like “OD.”

The purple group, the day’s most challenging category, was Ending in Elevated Landforms, made up of DOUBLESPEAK, HEATHCLIFF, PARAMOUNT and PORRIDGE. Each word conceals a landform term related to height at its end: DOUBLESPEAK ends in “peak,” HEATHCLIFF ends in “cliff,” PARAMOUNT ends in “mount,” and PORRIDGE ends in “ridge.”

A puzzle built around a clever misdirection

Puzzle recaps published after Sunday’s answers went live noted that the grid was designed to lure players toward an incorrect grouping early on. Several solvers reported initially assuming that GARFIELD referred to the cartoon cat character rather than the 19th-century American president, a mistake compounded by the presence of HEATHCLIFF, another well-known comic-strip cat, elsewhere in the grid.

That overlap led some players to briefly attempt grouping GARFIELD, HEATHCLIFF, DROOPY and CLEVELAND together as a set of cartoon animal characters, a red herring that the puzzle’s creators appeared to have built in deliberately. One recap described noticing the word “cliff” embedded at the end of HEATHCLIFF as the moment that unlocked the actual purple category, since it revealed the broader pattern of hidden landform words ending each entry in that group.

Puzzle outlets flagged the absence of a true cartoon-character category as a notable departure from typical Connections misdirection, with one recap specifically calling out that Sunday’s grid included “no cartoon animals today” as its actual answer set, despite multiple words that might otherwise suggest one.

Hints offered ahead of the reveal

Before publishing full answers, several outlets released layered hints designed to guide players without immediately spoiling the puzzle. Early clues described the yellow category as relating to “limp or flimsy” qualities, the green category as pointing toward “commander in chief,” the blue category as something solvers should “sound out” to understand, and the purple category as connected to “high altitude” imagery.

Other outlets offered slightly different phrasing for the same categories, describing the yellow group as relating to “words that describe the same physical state,” the green group as tied to “leaders of a certain country often favoured by Connections,” the blue group as words that “phonetically, could be much shorter,” and the purple group as containing “hidden landscape words.”

A puzzle with a Connections Bot rating of 4 out of 5

According to difficulty ratings compiled using the New York Times’ own Connections Bot scoring system, Sunday’s puzzle registered a 4 out of 5 on the platform’s difficulty scale, reflecting the added challenge created by the Garfield-Heathcliff misdirection built into the grid’s presidential and landform categories.

How Connections works

Connections has become one of the Times’ most popular daily word games since its debut in 2023, trailing only Wordle in overall popularity among the paper’s puzzle offerings, according to recaps tracking the game’s ongoing user engagement. Players select four words at a time from the 16-word grid and submit them as a guess; correct groupings lock into place with their designated color, while incorrect guesses count against a limit of four total mistakes before the puzzle ends unsolved.

The game’s structure, moving from simple, concrete categories in yellow up through increasingly abstract or wordplay-driven categories in green, blue and finally purple, has made it a daily habit for many puzzle enthusiasts who track personal win streaks similarly to how many players approach Wordle.

Where to find daily coverage

A range of outlets, including Parade, TechRadar, Forbes, GameDaily, Try Hard Guides and TheGamer, have built dedicated recurring coverage around Connections, offering daily hint breakdowns alongside full-answer reveals for readers who want either a nudge or an immediate solution. Most of these guides follow a consistent format, offering general category hints first before revealing individual example words and, finally, the complete four-category answer key.

Looking ahead

A new Connections puzzle will be published Monday, continuing the game’s daily rotation of categories spanning wordplay, pop culture, history and language patterns. Players looking to avoid spoilers for future puzzles are generally advised to complete each day’s grid before checking hint sites, since most outlets publish hints and complete answers together within the same daily post shortly after each puzzle becomes available to solve.

Tesla announced Saturday that it will finally unveil the second-generation Roadster on October 1, ending months of speculation over when the company’s long-delayed sports car would make its public debut nearly nine years after it was first shown to the world.

The electric vehicle maker posted a brief teaser on X, writing simply “Go for launch” alongside a graphic displaying the date “10.01.” The image also appeared to hint at cold-gas thrusters developed by SpaceX, the rocket company also run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, technology long rumored to give a high-performance version of the Roadster the ability to briefly lift off the ground. According to reporting from The Information, the reveal is set to take place in Waco, Texas.

A vehicle nearly a decade in the making

Tesla first showed the second-generation Roadster to the public in November 2017 during an event centered on the Tesla Semi. At the time, Musk promised extraordinary performance figures: a 0-to-60 mph time under two seconds, a top speed above 250 mph, and a range of 620 miles, specifications the company still lists on its official Roadster webpage. Production was originally targeted for 2020.

That timeline has slipped repeatedly in the years since, pushed back through 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 as Tesla redirected engineering and manufacturing focus toward other priorities, including the Cybertruck launch, the ramp-up of the Tesla Semi, and more recently the company’s pivot toward artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving technology through projects like the Cybercab and its Optimus humanoid robot.

At Tesla’s shareholder meeting on Nov. 6, 2025, Musk set a demonstration date of April 1, 2026, for the Roadster, while acknowledging the timing choice gave him what he called “deniability because I can say I was just kidding.” He also said at the time that production would likely begin 12 to 18 months following the reveal, placing an actual delivery timeline in 2027 or 2028, and described the finished car as being “very different from what was shown previously.” Musk further called the planned unveiling the “most exciting, whether it works or not, demo ever of any product.”

That April date came and went without an event. Musk had already begun shifting the timeline in mid-March, posting on X that the unveiling would come “hopefully next month” and would be “a banger next-level” reveal, before saying it would “probably” happen in late April instead. By the company’s April 22 earnings call, Tesla described the Roadster as still being in design development, with Musk estimating the reveal was “a month or so” away pending further testing and validation.

A public dispute over reservation costs

The Roadster’s repeated delays became the subject of a public back-and-forth last year between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who had placed a reservation for the vehicle years earlier. Altman said on social media that “7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait” after paying a $50,000 reservation fee for the car, a comment Musk pushed back on by asserting that Altman had actually received a refund on his deposit.

Reservations for the Roadster have ranged from $50,000 for the base configuration up to $250,000 for a limited “Founders Series” edition, with tens of thousands of early depositors from 2017 and 2018 still waiting for concrete answers about the car’s final specifications, pricing and delivery timeline. Asked previously whether Founders Series customers who paid the higher reservation amount would be invited to attend the eventual reveal event, Musk said, “Sure, absolutely. It’s the least we can do for our long-suffering Roadster reservation holders.”

What Saturday’s teaser suggests about the design

Close observers of Tesla’s teaser image noted that the silhouette shown does not appear to match the rear profile of the original 2017 concept car, lending some support to Musk’s past statements that the finished production vehicle will differ meaningfully from what was originally displayed. Commentary from the widely followed Tesla-focused account Whole Mars Catalog characterized the teaser as hinting at “an all new design,” a reading consistent with Musk’s earlier remarks describing the eventual production Roadster as a significant departure from the prototype shown nearly a decade ago.

The teaser’s imagery, along with earlier reporting from The Information, has also reinforced longstanding expectations that Tesla may demonstrate a SpaceX-derived cold-gas thruster package as part of the October event, potentially as an optional performance upgrade available on a limited version of the car. Whether that system is fully functional and road-legal in various markets remains an open question that the October event is expected to help clarify.

Key questions heading into October

For the many depositors who have waited years for updates, Saturday’s announcement sets up several unresolved questions that the October 1 event will likely need to address. Chief among them is whether the finished production specifications still match Tesla’s original 2017 promises of a sub-two-second 0-to-60 time, a top speed above 250 mph and 620 miles of range, or whether the car ultimately exceeds or falls short of those figures. Pricing also remains unclear, with the original $200,000 base price target for the production model not yet reconfirmed by the company.

Delivery timing remains similarly uncertain. Musk has floated both “late 2026” and 2027 as possible windows at different points over the past year, and any unveiling that fails to include a firm production and delivery schedule would likely be viewed skeptically given the vehicle’s long history of missed deadlines.

Tesla has not released additional details beyond the October 1 date and the accompanying teaser imagery, leaving open questions about the event’s format, location logistics in Waco, and whether the automaker will use the occasion to finally lock in a firm production timeline after years of shifting targets. For now, the announcement marks the most concrete signal in months that Tesla intends to move the long-awaited Roadster from concept to public reveal, even as questions about an actual delivery date to paying customers remain unresolved heading into the fall.

Indian equity markets enter a holiday-shortened week with the Nifty 50 at a crucial support zone after extending its losing streak to five consecutive weeks. With markets shut on Monday for Ganesh Chaturthi, Tuesday’s session will give investors their first chance to react to movements in crude oil, bond yields and expectations around the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision.

The Nifty ended Friday at 23,398.10, down 79.70 points, or 0.34%, while the BSE Sensex closed at 74,781.76, down 120.83 points, or 0.16%.

The Nifty touched a three-month low during the week, extending the weakness in the broader market. The Nifty Bank fell for a third consecutive week, while the Nifty Midcap index declined for the second straight week. The Nifty SmallCap index also slipped after three consecutive weeks of gains. Among sectors, Nifty Realty was the biggest loser, while healthcare and pharma were among the better-performing sectors.

Fed decision in focus

The US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and FOMC Economic Projections, due on Wednesday, September 16, at 2:00 PM EDT, or 11:30 PM IST, will be the key global trigger for markets.

Markets are pricing in a high probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike following the recent inflation data. The September 11 report showed headline CPI rising 0.4% month-on-month and holding at 3.4% annually. Core inflation rose 0.3% from the previous month but eased to 2.4% year-on-year.
According to Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, the September 15–16 FOMC meeting will be the week’s principal global catalyst.“A rate hike accompanied by hawkish economic projections could strengthen the dollar, tighten global financial conditions and place further pressure on emerging-market equities, foreign flows and the rupee,” he said.

An unchanged policy rate, or a rate hike accompanied by balanced forward guidance, could trigger a relief rally if investors view the outcome as less restrictive than expected.

The Bank of England and Bank of Japan will also announce policy decisions during the week, adding to the focus on global monetary policy.

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Crude remains a key variableCrude oil has emerged as another major pressure point for Indian equities, with Brent settling at $104.61 a barrel after briefly approaching $110.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, said crude remaining above $100 a barrel amid continued hostilities and retaliatory action in West Asia remained a central factor driving sentiment.

“Crude sustaining above the USD 100 per barrel mark, on continued hostilities and retaliatory action in West Asia, remained the central variable through the week,” Nair said.

He also pointed to rising global bond yields, expectations of synchronised monetary tightening and concerns over a potential unwinding of yen-funded carry trades as factors weighing on risk appetite and emerging-market flows.

For India, a further rise in crude could add to inflationary pressures, widen the import bill, weigh on the rupee and squeeze corporate margins, Radhakrishnan said.

“Any renewed rise in crude, particularly if disruptions to Middle East oil flows intensify, could add to inflationary pressures, widen the import bill, weigh on the rupee and squeeze corporate margins,” he said.

Domestic data, including WPI inflation and trade figures, will also offer clues on how much of the external pressure is filtering through to the economy.

Defensive sectors find favour

The week saw sectoral rotation, with healthcare and pharma leading gains, while IT declined amid the higher global rate environment. Real estate corrected as rising yields and funding costs weighed on the sector.

Nair said largecaps lagged the broader market, while the relatively milder correction in mid- and small-caps helped cushion the overall weakness.

“The coming week brings a dense macro calendar, with key releases such as US and domestic inflation prints and policy decisions from both the Fed and the BoJ. These, alongside the trajectory of crude, will set the near-term direction,” Nair said.

He expects elevated energy prices, foreign outflows and geopolitical uncertainty to keep volatility high, although resilient domestic fundamentals and institutional support could attract buying at lower levels.

Nair said the near-term approach should be to book partial profits where valuations are stretched and systematic risk exposure is highest, while redeploying capital into defensive and deep-value segments.

Nifty’s 23,000-23,300 zone in focusThe Nifty’s technical structure remains fragile, according to Radhakrishnan, with the 23,000–23,300 region emerging as the key support band.

The index remains below its key daily moving averages and has repeatedly tested the 23,300 region since March without decisively breaking below it. The 23,000 level has also continued to attract buying interest.

“The market’s technical structure remains fragile,” Radhakrishnan said.

On the weekly chart, the Nifty has reached its lower Bollinger Band, while weekly RSI readings for the Nifty and Bank Nifty remain in neutral territory. This suggests the market is under pressure but has yet to reach an extreme oversold condition.

This article has been written by Kumar Gaurav, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Gaurav and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment.

U.S. stocks snapped a four-session losing streak as an interruption to the torrid run in oil prices offset a reading of higher consumer inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 509.19 points, or 0.98%, to 52573.29. The S&P 500 added 65.28 points, or 0.86%, to 7656.98 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 251.31 points, or 0.96%, to 26333.04.

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