NYT Connections Game #1155 Hints and Full Answers for August 9

The NYT’s daily Connections puzzle for game #1155 is live, bringing another set of four themed groups for players to sort—along with the usual mix of wordplay and “wait, that fits” moments that can make or break a streak. If you’d rather not spoil today’s categories, turn back now; otherwise, here are the solutions and the clue structure used to get there.

NYT Connections today: game #1155

Players are presented with the following 16 entries:

• SHIFT GEARS
• JURY DUTY
• SPACE OPERA
• LABYRINTH
• CAPS FOR SALE
• ESCAPE ROOM
• NEO-NOIR
• COURSE-CORRECT
• BAD DREAM
• BUDDY COP
• CORDUROY
• CHANGE TACK
• MADELINE
• RECALIBRATE
• SPAGHETTI WESTERN
• GOODNIGHT MOON

Category clues (by color)

Connections signals difficulty by color, with today’s group themes described as:

• Yellow: Take a new path
• Green: Bedtime stories
• Blue: Types of films
• Purple: In need of an exit strategy

All answers for game #1155

Here are the four completed groups:

• Yellow (Take a different approach): CHANGE TACK, COURSE-CORRECT, RECALIBRATE, SHIFT GEARS
• Green (Classic children’s books): CAPS FOR SALE, CORDUROY, GOODNIGHT MOON, MADELINE
• Blue (Movie subgenres): BUDDY COP, NEO-NOIR, SPACE OPERA, SPAGHETTI WESTERN
• Purple (Things people try to get out of): BAD DREAM, ESCAPE ROOM, JURY DUTY, LABYRINTH

How the solve came together

In the build-up to the final grid, the approach started by locking in the Yellow set, then pairing film-leaning entries into likely subgenres (with Space Opera and Spaghetti Western forming one pairing). The remaining movie-leaning titles were also recognized as matching the Blue theme.

With fewer tiles left on the board, the children’s book group wasn’t immediately obvious, prompting a shift toward the Purple theme—using the idea of being “trapped” or “trying to get out”—which included adding JURY DUTY as a fourth member to complete that exit-strategy category.

Quick context: what Connections is

NYT Connections tasks you with grouping items into sets of four that share a common link. The green category is the easiest, yellow steps up in difficulty, blue is typically quite challenging, and purple is usually the hardest. The game is available for free through the NYT Games site on desktop and mobile.