If you’re defending a streak in the New York Times Connections on Feb. 22, puzzle #987 arrives a touch harder than yesterday’s — tracking sites peg it around a 3/5 difficulty. That makes a few targeted hints useful: below you’ll find the clues, the full solution, and practical tactics to finish without burning strikes.
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Connections asks players to sort 16 words into four related groups — each group carries a color-coded difficulty from yellow (easiest) to purple (hardest). You have four incorrect guesses before the remaining answers are revealed, so spotting reliable links early matters.
Today’s 16 tiles: Outcast, salt-and-pepper, blondie, teddy bear, distinguished, black sheep, rough riders, the far side, bull moose, bloom county, silver, peanuts, misfit, flecked, reject, big stick.
Quick hints to get you started
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- Yellow: Words that mean someone who doesn’t belong
- Green: Phrases used to describe hair going gray
- Blue: Names of well-known comic strips
- Purple: Terms tied to Theodore Roosevelt and his era
One useful nudge: think comics when you’re puzzling over the Roosevelt-related items — that cross-connection should steer you to the right pairing.
Answers for Connections #987
| Color | Theme | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Those who don’t fit in | Black sheep, misfit, outcast, reject |
| Green | Ways to describe graying hair | Distinguished, flecked, salt-and-pepper, silver |
| Blue | Famous comic strips | Blondie, Bloom County, Peanuts, The Far Side |
| Purple | Linked to Theodore Roosevelt | Big stick, Bull Moose, Rough Riders, Teddy bear |
The Roosevelt cluster tends to be a fast pick if you remember his nickname and political slogans; the comics set needs recognition of a few classic strips (Bloom County is an easy miss if it doesn’t pop immediately). The hair descriptors fall into place once you isolate one or two qualifiers, and the “doesn’t fit” group is a straightforward synonyms set.
Yesterday’s solutions (game #986)
- Experience: Background, history, life, past
- Attendance status: Absent, excused, late, present
- Responses to a result: Great, perfect, phew, solid
- Words hiding car makes: audits, dodgers, infinitive, minion (contain Audi, Dodge, Infiniti, Mini)
How to approach Connections — practical tactics
Players generally adopt one of two routes: build obvious groups as they appear, or hunt for the purple (hard) set first. Both work; the trick is managing risk so you don’t waste strikes on tempting but wrong groupings.
Here are targeted tips that help most games:
- Use the shuffle button to cluster solved groups away from the remaining words — it makes spotting new connections simpler.
- When aiming for purple, scan for patterns such as missing letters, homophones, common prefixes/suffixes, or the format “word [blank]” / “[blank] word.”
- Start with small, confident pairs or trios (two comic titles, two synonyms) and build from there; partial links often lead to the full set.
- If a group looks obvious, select those tiles but pause before confirming — a quick second look around the grid can reveal overlapping traps.
- Avoid using a strike on the first instinct unless you’re certain; some puzzles include deliberately tempting quartets to bait quick submissions.
Connections rewards pattern recognition and patience. If you get stuck, step back, reshuffle, and re-scan the grid with one of the lenses above — the answer often hides in a familiar naming convention rather than a random association.
Happy solving — and watch that purple set; it’s where most streaks are lost.
Annabelle Ink is a gaming journalist and lifelong gamer who lives and breathes video game culture. From console releases to esports tournaments, this dedicated journalist brings insider knowledge and genuine enthusiasm to every review and feature. Her expertise spans multiple gaming platforms, helping readers discover their next favorite game while staying connected to the pulse of the gaming industry.