From Mashable · Mashable Team · · 1m 20s
Connections hints for Sept. 14: birds, snitches, grass
Sixteen word meanings for the Sept. 14 Connections puzzle, laid out without giving away a single answer.
In brief
Sixteen word meanings for the Sept. 14 Connections puzzle, laid out without giving away a single answer. When half the words on the board have nothing to do with each other, that spread is the clue. Originally reported by Mashable.
Meanings, not spoilers
Mashable lays out what each of the 16 words means for the Sept. 14, 2026 board. No groups, no answers, just definitions you can work with.
“We've got what you need to understand the clues for today's puzzle without spoiling any of the answers.”
Unrelated is the hint
When a word carries two meanings that share nothing, that gap is doing work. Connections leans on words inside words and visual tricks.
“sometimes learning that many of the words have completely unrelated meanings is a clue in and of itself”
Four actual birds
Coot is a duck lookalike. Goose sits between duck and swan. Loon dives with sharp red eyes. Teal is a small European dabbling duck.
“Loon meaning: Large diving birds with sharp red eyes.”
Four words for informant
Canary is a finch or someone talking to police. Rat is a rodent or a betrayer. Snitch is a tattletale. Stoolie is short for stool pigeon.
“Stoolie meaning: Slang for stoole pigeon. A bird that's used to lure other birds into a trap.”
Things on a table
Bag holds stuff. Cutlery means edged cutting tools. Stirrer is the long-stemmed utensil for drinks. Straw is the tube you sip through.
Every one of these is grass
Blue is a sky hue or pasture grass. Crab is a crustacean or invasive grass. Lemon is a fruit or a southern Indian grass. Wheat is grain or feed grass.
“Crab meaning: A decapod crustacean or a type of invasive grass species.”
Here's the gist
When half the words on the board have nothing to do with each other, that spread is the clue.
