The NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, February 19, 2026, are for puzzle #984: EASTER SUPPLIES, FIREPLACE ACCESSORIES, ELEMENTS OF “SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER,” and cooking-method homophones. The complete board includes BOYLE, BRAYS, SEER, and STU, which sound like boil, braise, sear, and stew.
Spoilers follow. The Thursday, February 19, 2026, puzzle mixes familiar object groups with an indirect film category and a phonetic purple group. The standard puzzle has 16 words divided into four groups of four.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Saturday Night Fever | $22.95 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Saturday Night Fever | $8.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Saturday Night Fever (1977) | $3.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
Saturday Night Fever (30th Anniversary Special Collector's Edition) | $28.98 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
Dance 10-Movie Collection DVD Box Set, Classic Dance Musicals Including Footloose, Saturday Night... | $29.95 | Buy on Amazon |
Key takeaways
- NYT Connections #984 is dated Thursday, February 19, 2026, and contains four groups of four words.
- The yellow group is EASTER SUPPLIES: BASKET, DYE, EGGS, and PEEPS.
- The green group is FIREPLACE ACCESSORIES: BELLOWS, POKER, SHOVEL, and TONGS.
- The blue group is ELEMENTS OF “SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER”: DISCO, JOHN TRAVOLTA, PLATFORM SHOES, and POLYESTER SUIT.
- The purple group is homophones of cooking methods: BOYLE, BRAYS, SEER, and STU.
NYT Connections answers for Thursday, February 19, 2026
Spoiler warning: The complete NYT Connections answers for Thursday, February 19, 2026, are EASTER SUPPLIES, FIREPLACE ACCESSORIES, ELEMENTS OF “SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER,” and HOMOPHONES OF WAYS TO COOK SOMETHING. The 16 words are BASKET, DYE, EGGS, PEEPS, BELLOWS, POKER, SHOVEL, TONGS, DISCO, JOHN TRAVOLTA, PLATFORM SHOES, POLYESTER SUIT, BOYLE, BRAYS, SEER, and STU.
Multiple dated answer guides identify this as Connections #984; the standard puzzle should not be confused with the separate Connections Sports Edition puzzle from the same date. Walkthroughs.net’s Connections #984 answer guide and Parade’s February 19 walkthrough provide corroborating answer coverage.
#1 Best Overall
What are today’s Connections categories?
The four NYT Connections categories for Thursday, February 19, 2026, are listed below from the relatively direct groups to the most deceptive wordplay group.
| Color | Category | Words | How the connection works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow | EASTER SUPPLIES | BASKET, DYE, EGGS, PEEPS | Familiar Easter items or supplies |
| Green | FIREPLACE ACCESSORIES | BELLOWS, POKER, SHOVEL, TONGS | Tools used around a traditional fireplace |
| Blue | ELEMENTS OF “SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER” | DISCO, JOHN TRAVOLTA, PLATFORM SHOES, POLYESTER SUIT | People, music, fashion, and imagery associated with the 1977 film |
| Purple | HOMOPHONES OF WAYS TO COOK SOMETHING | BOYLE, BRAYS, SEER, STU | Words that sound like boil, braise, sear, and stew |
What is the yellow group in Connections today?
The yellow group is EASTER SUPPLIES: BASKET, DYE, EGGS, and PEEPS. The four entries are recognizable Easter-related objects, foods, or decorating supplies. The group is comparatively direct, although EGGS and PEEPS can also tempt you toward broader food-related associations.
What is the green group in Connections today?
The green group is FIREPLACE ACCESSORIES: BELLOWS, POKER, SHOVEL, and TONGS. A bellows supplies air to a fire, a poker moves burning logs or embers, a shovel handles ash, and tongs help lift or reposition material in the fireplace.
The group works through everyday objects rather than a hidden spelling trick. The main red-herring risk is that POKER, SHOVEL, and TONGS are common objects that could fit many practical settings before the fireplace connection becomes clear.
Rank #2
- Shrink-wrapped
What is the blue group in Connections today?
The blue group is ELEMENTS OF “SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER”: DISCO, JOHN TRAVOLTA, PLATFORM SHOES, and POLYESTER SUIT. The entries point to the 1977 film through its star, music and dance culture, and distinctive 1970s fashion rather than naming the film in every entry.
The American Film Institute Catalog record for Saturday Night Fever identifies the film as an American production directed by John Badham, starring John Travolta among its cast, and released on December 16, 1977. The AFI record lists a 118-minute runtime. The Library of Congress historical essay on “Saturday Night Fever” connects the film’s cultural impact with disco, platform shoes, and flamboyant clothing.
That indirect construction makes the blue group harder than a category containing four film titles. DISCO can suggest a whole musical genre, while POLYESTER SUIT and PLATFORM SHOES can evoke 1970s fashion generally. JOHN TRAVOLTA supplies the strongest clue once the film association is recognized.
Optional related-media note: If the category sends you back to the film, you can look for Saturday Night Fever DVD or another currently available viewing format. Availability and edition vary by region, so check the listing before purchasing.
What is the purple group in Connections today?
The purple group is HOMOPHONES OF WAYS TO COOK SOMETHING: BOYLE, BRAYS, SEER, and STU. Read the entries aloud and they become the cooking methods boil, braise, sear, and stew.
Rank #3
- Factory sealed DVD
| Connections entry | Sounds like | Cooking method |
|---|---|---|
| BOYLE | boil | Boil |
| BRAYS | braise | Braise |
| SEER | sear | Sear |
| STU | stew | Stew |
The purple group is usually the trickiest set because the spellings are intentionally misleading. BOYLE looks like a surname, BRAYS is an ordinary verb, SEER suggests someone who predicts the future, and STU looks like a name. The shared property appears only when pronunciation matters.
Why is the purple group difficult?
The purple group is difficult because it switches from meaning-based connections to sound-based connections. The yellow, green, and blue groups can be solved through familiar objects, cultural references, or associated imagery; the purple group requires you to ignore the misleading spellings and hear four cooking verbs.
| Difficulty factor | How it appears in puzzle #984 |
|---|---|
| Literal versus phonetic | Three groups use semantic or cultural associations; the purple group uses homophones. |
| Common noun versus proper noun | JOHN TRAVOLTA is a person’s name functioning as a film clue among mostly common nouns. |
| Direct versus indirect reference | The blue group evokes Saturday Night Fever without using the film title as one of its four entries. |
| Red-herring potential | POKER, SHOVEL, TONGS, DISCO, and POLYESTER SUIT can each suggest other plausible groupings. |
What are the 16 words in Connections on February 19?
The complete board for Thursday, February 19, 2026, is:
PEEPS, POKER, DISCO, STU, SHOVEL, BRAYS, BASKET, BELLOWS, BOYLE, JOHN TRAVOLTA, TONGS, DYE, PLATFORM SHOES, EGGS, SEER, POLYESTER SUIT.
Rank #4
- DVD in collector's case
The completed grouping, including the category labels, is also recorded by Word Cheats’ February 19 Connections answers page. The answer guides are being used here for the dated puzzle solution; this article does not attribute official wording to The New York Times because the official game page was not directly accessible during research.
Hints for NYT Connections #984 without spoilers
If you want to solve the puzzle yourself before seeing the answers, use these hints in order:
- Bunny trail: Think about Easter-related items.
- Warm yourself by this: Consider tools used beside a traditional fireplace.
- Classic 1977 movie: Think of a film strongly connected with disco and 1970s fashion.
- Sounds like Julia Child techniques: Say the remaining entries aloud and listen for cooking methods.
How should you approach this Connections board?
Start with the most concrete category you can prove, but do not submit a group merely because four words seem vaguely related. On this board, Easter supplies and fireplace tools offer the clearest starting points. Once those words are removed, look for the film association among DISCO, JOHN TRAVOLTA, PLATFORM SHOES, and POLYESTER SUIT.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesSave the pronunciation test for the remaining unusual entries. BOYLE, BRAYS, SEER, and STU do not share an obvious written pattern, but each becomes a cooking method when spoken. Checking the sound of the words is the decisive move for the purple group.
Best Value
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the regular NYT Connections puzzle for February 19, 2026?
NYT Connections #984 is the standard Connections puzzle dated Thursday, February 19, 2026. The separate Connections Sports Edition puzzle from the same date is not the puzzle answered here.
What does STU mean in Connections?
STU sounds like “stew,” one of the cooking methods in the purple group. The other sound-alike entries are BOYLE for boil, BRAYS for braise, and SEER for sear.
Why is John Travolta in the blue Connections group?
The blue group refers to Saturday Night Fever, the 1977 John Travolta film associated with disco, platform shoes, and flamboyant 1970s clothing.
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The NYT Connections answers for Thursday, February 19, 2026, are EASTER SUPPLIES, FIREPLACE ACCESSORIES, ELEMENTS OF “SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER,” and HOMOPHONES OF WAYS TO COOK SOMETHING. The key twist is the purple group: BOYLE, BRAYS, SEER, and STU sound like boil, braise, sear, and stew.
Quick Recap
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