The New York Times’ popular word-association game Connections delivered another clever brain teaser on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, with puzzle No. 1004 featuring a mix of straightforward synonyms, idiomatic phrases and tricky homophones that left players debating categories and celebrating quick solves.
Connections, launched in 2023, tasks players with grouping 16 words or phrases into four themed sets of four. Categories range in difficulty from yellow (easiest) to purple (hardest), and players get four mistakes before the puzzle ends in defeat. The game has surged in popularity alongside Wordle, Strands and other daily NYT brain games, drawing millions who share scores and frustrations on social media.
The New York Times Connections
For March 11’s edition, the 16 words were: DRESS, HEE, ICE CREAM, JAZZ, LIFT, MI, OUI, PALM, PINCH, PINE, POCKET, SNOW, SPIFF, SPRUCE, TRAFFIC and YEW.
Hints circulated quickly online from sites like Mashable, CNET, Forbes and The Gamer, offering subtle nudges without full spoilers. Common early clues pointed to “take without permission” for the yellow group, “enhance, perhaps vertically” or “make nicer with ‘up’” for green, “conical variety” or “photoreceptor cells and funnels” for blue, and “sounds like…” or “pronoun homophones” for the challenging purple.
The yellow category proved the most accessible: **STEAL** — LIFT, PALM, PINCH, POCKET. These are all informal verbs meaning to pilfer or swipe something discreetly, from “lifting” goods in retail slang to “palming” an item or “pinching” pennies.
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Green followed as **MAKE NICER, WITH “UP”** — DRESS, JAZZ, SPIFF, SPRUCE. Each word pairs with “up” to form a phrase meaning to improve appearance or style: dress up, jazz up, spiff up, spruce up. Reviewers noted this as a classic Connections trope relying on common idioms.
The blue group, rated medium difficulty, was **KINDS OF CONES** — ICE CREAM, PINE, SNOW, TRAFFIC. This category highlighted diverse uses of “cone”: the frozen dessert, the evergreen tree part, a weather phenomenon like a funnel cloud variant, and the road safety device. Players often spotted “ice cream” and “traffic” first, then connected the others.
The purple category, as usual the trickiest, required thinking phonetically: **PRONOUN HOMOPHONES** — HEE, MI, OUI, YEW. These sound like the English pronouns “he,” “me,” “we” and “you” but come from other languages or spellings — “hee” (a variant or laugh sound approximating “he”), “mi” (as in do-re-mi, sounding like “me”), “oui” (French for “yes,” homophone to “we”), and “yew” (the tree, pronounced like “you”). Many solvers called this one “bizarre” or “diabolical,” with some needing multiple mistakes before cracking it.
Player reactions flooded Reddit’s r/NYTConnections subreddit and X, where the daily thread for March 11 garnered hundreds of comments. Scores varied widely: some finished in perfect runs with few guesses, while others struggled with the purple group, reporting three or four mistakes. “That purple had me yelling at my screen,” one user posted. Another praised the cone category: “Once I saw traffic and snow, it clicked — great misdirect with pine though.”
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The puzzle’s difficulty rated around average for midweek, with the purple homophones providing the biggest hurdle. No major bugs or complaints surfaced, unlike occasional past issues with ambiguous words.
Connections continues to evolve under NYT Games, occasionally introducing themed variants like Sports Edition (No. 534 on March 11 focused on athletics terms). The core game remains free with limits or via subscription for unlimited play.
For those who missed it or want a rematch, the official NYT site archives puzzles, though spoilers abound online. Strategy tips from experts include scanning for obvious pairs first, avoiding early submissions on uncertain groups to preserve mistakes, and considering multiple meanings — literal, slang, homophones or phrases.
As Connections marks its third year, puzzle No. 1004 exemplified why the game endures: clever wordplay, escalating challenge and that satisfying “aha” moment when groups lock in. With daily refreshes at midnight Eastern Time, players in Incheon and beyond already eye tomorrow’s grid.
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Whether you’re a streak maintainer or casual solver, March 11’s edition reminded fans that Connections rewards lateral thinking — and a good ear for sounds-alike tricks.
| Revenue of $163.95M (3.10% Y/Y) misses by $501.80K
a.k.a. Brands Holding Corp. (AKA) UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference March 11, 2026 4:00 PM EDT
Company Participants
Ciaran Long – Chief Executive Officer
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Conference Call Participants
Jay Sole – UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
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Presentation
Jay Sole UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
All right. Well, hello again. I’m Jay Sole, UBS’ retailing department stores and specialty softlines analyst. And welcome again to the 2026 UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference. Really excited to have a.k.a. Brands here again to talk to us. I have to say that there’s a very big fan in my household of Princess Polly and it’s my 15-year-old she loves it. So I think that…
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Ciaran Long Chief Executive Officer
We appreciate your 15-year-old and we appreciate you and your credit card.
Jay Sole UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
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That’s right. So…
Ciaran Long Chief Executive Officer
It’s great for us.
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Question-and-Answer Session
Jay Sole UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
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So there’s a really good story here. And I think that we are going to dive into a little bit. But maybe just before we kind of dig into some of the nuances of why my kid loves your brand. Let’s just talk about high level the business model. It gives us a little bit of overview for anybody who might not be totally up to speed on the company and what you guys do, just maybe start there.
Ciaran Long Chief Executive Officer
Thanks for having me. Delighted to be here. Yes. So at a.k.a., we’re a group of next-generation fashion brands, very much focused on that Gen Z millennial consumer. We started off all of the brands very much direct to consumer. And over the last couple of years, we started bringing the brands into wholesale, into stores and really just putting product in front of customers wherever they are, certainly, very early days as
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General Motors has issued a recall affecting more than 17,000 vehicles over a rear toe link fracture that increases the risk of a crash.
The recall from General Motors applies to about 17,050 Buicks due to a rear toe link fracture that can cause loss of vehicle control, increasing the collision risk, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a recall report.
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Certain 2012–2013 Buick Regal Turbo and GS trim-level vehicles that were sold or registered in more than 20 “high corrosion” states are included in the recall. More specifically, about 4,751 2012 Buick Regals and about 12,299 2013 Buick Regals.
The recall from General Motors applies to about 17,050 Buicks due to a rear toe link fracture that can cause loss of vehicle control. (Steve Fecht/General Motors via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The “high corrosion” states include Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Vehicles in Washington, D.C., were also included.
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About 4,751 2012 Buick Regal vehicles and about 12,299 2013 Buick Regal models were included in the recall. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
Only about 1% of the vehicles included in the recall may have a defect, which was caused by a supplier’s failure to properly apply corrosion protection.
General Motors said no injuries have been reported in connection with the issue that triggered the recall, which was submitted on Tuesday.
General Motors said no injuries have been reported in connection with the issue that triggered the recall. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
General Motors dealerships will replace the rear suspension toe links and adjuster fasteners at no cost. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on April 13.
The recall expands on multiple others the automaker has filed since late last month about the same issue.
Three days after being added to the ASX All Ordinaries, rare earths developer St George Mining has taken another key step at its flagship Brazilian project.
If you take an Uber or Lyft from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), your ride could soon cost more.
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Tuesday approved an increase in rideshare fees, raising the charge from $4 to as much as $12 per trip, a move Uber is warning will affect both riders and drivers, FOX 11 reported.
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Under the new plan, rideshare vehicles will pay a $6 base fee to enter LAX. An additional $6 fee will apply for pickups or drop-offs at the airport’s Central Terminal Area, according to FOX 11.
Travelers wait for rideshare pickups at the LAX-it rideshare pickup location at Los Angeles International Airport March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Right now, rideshare companies pay about $4 per pickup or drop-off. Taxi companies pay $4 for pickups, while limousines pay $5. Taxis and limos are not charged for drop-offs, according to FOX 11.
Airport officials say the higher fees are meant to reduce traffic congestion and encourage travelers to use the airport’s new SkyLink automated people mover once it opens, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.
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“To be able to be dropped off there will be a $2 increase to the rideshare companies,” Vanessa Rodriguez, deputy executive director of external affairs at Los Angeles World Airports, told ABC7 Los Angeles.
“As the new front door to the airport, essentially a traveler will be able to get on the SkyLink train and do the full loop of the horseshoe in 10 minutes.”
Vehicles at LAX in Los Angeles June 29, 2023. (Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images / Getty Images)
However, Uber says the fee will be passed directly on to all travelers and would be nearly triple the $4.24 average across major U.S. airports.
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“The board’s decision significantly increases the cost of getting to and from LAX,” Danielle Lam, head of local California policy at Uber, told FOX Business in an email. “A 140% fee hike will directly impact riders and reduce demand for drivers who rely on airport trips.”
Higher passenger fees usually reduce demand for airport trips, limiting drivers’ earning opportunities. The proposed LAX fee increase could result in approximately $1,000 in lost earnings per driver each quarter, according to Uber.
One of Western Australia’s most remote bowsers is now also its cheapest, offering diesel at a discount of more than 50 cents per litre compared to Perth outlets.
