Connections Hints
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Words from the NYT Connections puzzle — February 18, 2026
All 16 words, sorted alphabetically. Group them into four categories of four.
The four category names, easiest to hardest. No words revealed yet.
Theme name plus one word from each category.
CRIMP, CURL, FEATHER, and TEASE are all styling techniques or directives associated with retro hairstyles, especially popular in the 70s and 80s.
BAD, FLY, RAD, and WICKED are all retro slang terms that meant 'cool' or 'excellent,' each popular in different eras of informal speech.
BANTAM, CRESTED, FREE-RANGE, and LEGHORN are all terms used to describe types or characteristics of chickens.
HEAVY, SHAVING, SOUR, and TOPICAL all precede the word CREAM to make familiar compound phrases: heavy cream, shaving cream, sour cream, and topical cream.