Hints, Answers and Full Breakdown for Puzzle #1013 on March 20, 2026

The New York Times’ popular word-association game Connections delivered another brain-teasing challenge on Friday, March 20, 2026, with Puzzle No. 1013 featuring a mix of everyday terms, cultural references and clever misdirections that tested players’ pattern recognition and lateral thinking.

Released at midnight Eastern time as part of the daily rotation on nytimes.com and the NYT Games app, today’s puzzle drew praise and frustration in equal measure from the online community for its balanced difficulty and thematic variety. Solvers had to group 16 seemingly unrelated words into four themed categories of four words each, with yellow as the easiest and purple as the trickiest.

The 16 words in today’s grid were: ALARM, CONCERN, RATTLE, SHAKE, BOARDWALK, CHANCE, LUXURY, PARKING, FATE, FURY, MUSE, SIREN, CARTON, NOODLE, ROLL, TIMER.

As with every Connections puzzle, the goal is to identify the common threads without using more than four mistakes. Players receive color-coded feedback: yellow for the simplest category, green next, then blue, and purple for the most obscure.

### Hints for Today’s Puzzle

Before diving into the full answers — which contain spoilers — here are progressive hints to guide solvers who want to crack it on their own:

– **Yellow (easiest):** These words all relate to causing unease or disturbance, often in a physical or emotional sense.
– **Green:** Think classic board game real estate and random events — items you’d find listed on a familiar property-trading board.
– **Blue:** These evoke figures from ancient Greek stories, often tied to destiny, emotion, inspiration or allure.
– **Purple (hardest):** These complete the phrase “egg _____” — a common compound word or expression involving the word “egg.”

Many players reported starting with the yellow group, as words like “shake” and “rattle” immediately suggested agitation or fear. The purple category proved elusive for some, relying on idiomatic English phrases rather than literal meanings.

### Full Answers and Category Breakdown

Here are the complete groupings for Connections #1013 on March 20, 2026:

**Yellow: Disturb**
ALARM, CONCERN, RATTLE, SHAKE

This category captured synonyms for causing worry, fear or physical vibration. “Shake” and “rattle” evoke both literal trembling and figurative unease, while “alarm” and “concern” lean emotional. Solvers noted this as the most straightforward, often solved first.

**Green: Words on a Monopoly Board**
BOARDWALK, CHANCE, LUXURY, PARKING

A nod to the iconic Parker Brothers (now Hasbro) game, these are direct spaces or cards: Boardwalk (the priciest property), Chance (the card deck), Luxury Tax (a space), and Parking (Free Parking, the beloved rest spot). The category rewarded pop-culture knowledge of the classic American board game, with many players calling it a satisfying “aha” moment.

**Blue: Figure in Greek Myth**
FATE, FURY, MUSE, SIREN

Drawing from classical mythology, these represent archetypal beings: the Fates (who spin destiny), a Fury (vengeful deity), a Muse (inspirational goddess), and a Siren (seductive sea creature). The category highlighted how Connections often weaves in literary or historical references, challenging players beyond everyday vocabulary.

**Purple: Egg _____**
CARTON, NOODLE, ROLL, TIMER

The trickiest group completed familiar phrases: egg carton (packaging), egg noodle (pasta type), egg roll (appetizer), and egg timer (kitchen tool). This required thinking in compound words or set expressions, a hallmark of purple categories that often stump even seasoned players.

### Player Reactions and Difficulty Assessment

On forums like Reddit’s r/NYTConnections, users shared mixed experiences. Many achieved perfect solves in under a minute once yellow and green clicked, while others lost attempts to misfires like grouping “shake” with “roll” or “siren” with “alarm.”

“This one felt fair but sneaky — the Monopoly group was a giveaway, but egg phrases took forever,” one commenter wrote. Another praised the Greek myth tie-in: “Loved the blue category; reminded me of high school classics.”

Data from community trackers suggests average solve times hovered around 4-6 minutes, with a moderate mistake rate. The puzzle earned a difficulty rating of about 3.2 out of 5 from aggregate player votes, placing it in the middle range for recent entries.

### How Connections Works and Tips for Success

Created by the New York Times Games team and launched in 2023, Connections has grown into one of the most popular daily brain games alongside Wordle and the Mini Crossword. Players see a 4×4 grid of words and must submit groups of four that share a hidden connection. Correct groups vanish in their assigned color; four mistakes end the game.

Strategies include:
– Scan for obvious synonyms or themes first (yellow often falls quickly).
– Look for proper nouns, brands or cultural references.
– Consider multiple meanings — words can fit literal, slang or idiomatic senses.
– Avoid forcing groups; sometimes stepping away reveals connections.

Today’s puzzle exemplified the game’s appeal: accessible yet layered, rewarding both quick pattern spotting and deeper cultural knowledge.

For those who missed it or want to compare, the official archive on nytimes.com allows replaying past puzzles (subscription required for full access). The next Connections drops at midnight ET on March 21.

As the game approaches its third anniversary, its daily ritual continues to unite word lovers worldwide in a shared moment of mental gymnastics.