Spoiler warning: This guide begins with hints for NYT Connections #983, released Wednesday, February 18, 2026. The complete categories and answers appear farther down the page, so stop reading before the answer section if you are still solving.
Need a quick reminder of the format? Connections gives you 16 words and asks you to arrange them into four groups of four. The groups range from yellow, usually the most straightforward, to purple, often the most deceptive. Words can appear to belong to more than one group, so a correct-looking set should be tested carefully before you submit it.
Hints for Connections #983
Here are graduated clues for the puzzle released on February 18, 2026. They are intentionally less specific than the full answer key.
Yellow-group hint
Think of old-school instructions or techniques for styling hair.
#1 Best Overall
Green-group hint
Think of retro slang for something cool, stylish, impressive, or excellent.
Blue-group hint
Think of words that describe types of chickens or characteristics associated with chickens.
Purple-group hint
Each answer can come immediately before the word cream.
Still solving? The 16 entries are: HEAVY, CRESTED, BAD, FEATHER, FLY, TEASE, BANTAM, TOPICAL, CURL, SOUR, WICKED, LEGHORN, SHAVING, CRIMP, FREE-RANGE, and RAD.
Connections #983 answers for February 18, 2026
Stop here if you do not want the solutions. The category names below describe the published groupings; they are not necessarily the exact labels displayed by the New York Times game.
Yellow: RETRO HAIR DIRECTIVES
- CRIMP
- CURL
- FEATHER
- TEASE
These are hair-styling techniques or directions associated with older hairstyles. To crimp hair is to give it a ridged or wavy texture. To curl it is to shape it into curls. To feather hair is to shape it into a feathered style, while to tease it is to backcomb the hair to create volume.
Green: RETRO SLANG FOR COOL
- BAD
- FLY
- RAD
- WICKED
In this group, all four words can be used as older or retro slang for something excellent, stylish, or cool. The wording is deliberately slippery: bad and wicked can have negative meanings, and fly can describe movement. Here, however, they belong with rad in the positive slang sense.
Blue: CHICKEN DESCRIPTORS
- BANTAM
- CRESTED
- FREE-RANGE
- LEGHORN
Bantam is a type of small chicken, crested describes a chicken with a crest of feathers, free-range describes a husbandry or production designation, and Leghorn is a recognized chicken breed.
PC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchPurple: ___ CREAM
- HEAVY cream
- SHAVING cream
- SOUR cream
- TOPICAL cream
The final group is formed by placing cream after each word: heavy cream, shaving cream, sour cream, and topical cream. This is the most deceptive set because the four words do not initially look as though they share a subject.
How to solve the puzzle
A productive route through #983 starts with the most concrete wordplay rather than with the four words that have the most possible meanings.
- Start with CRIMP, CURL, TEASE, and FEATHER. The first three strongly suggest hair styling. FEATHER is the word that may hold the group back because it can evoke birds, weight, or softness. Once “feathered hair” comes to mind, the set becomes clear.
- Use RAD as the slang anchor. Rad is the least ambiguous member of the retro-cool group. Add BAD, FLY, and WICKED in their positive slang meanings.
- Let BANTAM point toward chickens. Once bantam is recognized as a chicken type, Leghorn is a strong fit. Crested and free-range then complete the group as chicken descriptors.
- Read the leftovers as phrases. The remaining entries—HEAVY, SHAVING, SOUR, and TOPICAL—all form familiar expressions before cream.
The main red herrings in Connections #983
This grid is designed to encourage several false starts. HEAVY, FLY, BANTAM, and FEATHER can all suggest boxing or fighting-weight categories, but that is not one of the four solutions. The words BAD and WICKED may also seem to share a negative or dangerous meaning, while RAD and HEAVY can invite other slang interpretations. SOUR can sound negative too, but its role is simply to complete “sour cream.”
The puzzle’s trick is that the words are not being grouped only by their most common dictionary meanings. Some are being used as styling verbs, some as slang, some as chicken terminology, and some as the first half of a phrase.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Playing and replaying Connections
The daily Connections puzzle is available through the New York Times Games website and app. According to the NYT Games Help Center, the daily puzzle releases at midnight in the player’s timezone, so the local calendar date can matter if you play near midnight. The game is free to play, and creating an account can preserve progress across platforms.
Readers who want to revisit older puzzles should note the distinction between the daily game and the archive. The Help Center says that the Connections archive is available to All Access and Games subscribers, with archived puzzles going back as far as June 12, 2023. Subscription access is therefore relevant for replaying past puzzles and using subscriber features, but it is not required simply to attempt the daily puzzle.
More puzzles away from the screen
If solving #983 has you looking for an offline collection, New York Times puzzle book options include Puzzle Mania!, a hardcover collection from The New York Times Games and Joel Fagliano published October 21, 2025. The publisher describes it as containing new spins on digital games such as Connections. It is a broader NYT Games collection—not a print reissue of Connections #983.
A dedicated Connections collection is also listed by Barnes & Noble as an upcoming Connections puzzle book, with more than 100 puzzles and a listed release date of October 27, 2026. That date is in the future relative to this puzzle guide, so availability and delivery details should be checked before ordering.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
All 16 words and their groups at a glance
| Group | Words |
|---|---|
| Retro hair directives | CRIMP, CURL, FEATHER, TEASE |
| Retro slang for cool | BAD, FLY, RAD, WICKED |
| Chicken descriptors | BANTAM, CRESTED, FREE-RANGE, LEGHORN |
| ___ cream | HEAVY, SHAVING, SOUR, TOPICAL |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the answer to Connections #983 on February 18, 2026?
The groups are RETRO HAIR DIRECTIVES: CRIMP, CURL, FEATHER, TEASE; RETRO SLANG FOR COOL: BAD, FLY, RAD, WICKED; CHICKEN DESCRIPTORS: BANTAM, CRESTED, FREE-RANGE, LEGHORN; and ___ CREAM: HEAVY, SHAVING, SOUR, TOPICAL.
What date was NYT Connections #983 released?
Connections #983 was released on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. The daily puzzle changes at midnight in the player’s timezone.
Is the NYT Connections archive free?
The daily Connections puzzle is free to play, but the NYT Help Center says the Connections archive is available to All Access and Games subscribers. A subscription is not required just to play the daily puzzle.
The Bottom Line
Connections #983 turns hair techniques, retro slang, chicken terminology, and phrases ending in “cream” into one deceptive grid. If you are solving without spoilers, try CRIMP–CURL–FEATHER–TEASE first, then use RAD to unlock the slang group.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
