Why Are BEER HAT, BREATHE, HERB TEA and THE BEAR Anagrams?
They are anagrams.
Ignore the spaces and each entry uses the exact same seven letters:
A, B, E, E, H, R and T.
That is the purple-group connection in NYT Connections #1201 for September 24, 2026.
The relationship is spelling, not the meanings of the four entries.
Letter check
BEER HAT Without spaces: BEERHAT Sorted letters: ABEEHRT
BREATHE Without spaces: BREATHE Sorted letters: ABEEHRT
HERB TEA Without spaces: HERBTEA Sorted letters: ABEEHRT
THE BEAR Without spaces: THEBEAR Sorted letters: ABEEHRT
What makes them anagrams?
An anagram rearranges the same letters to make a different word or phrase.
These four entries each contain:
A × 1
B × 1
E × 2
H × 1
R × 1
T × 1
No letters are added or removed.
The spaces in BEER HAT, HERB TEA and THE BEAR do not matter.
Why is the double E important?
Each entry has exactly two E’s.
That is an easy detail to miss when checking the group by eye.
If one of the phrases had only one E, it would not be a complete anagram match.
What is a beer hat?
A beer hat is a novelty hat designed to hold beverage cans so the wearer can drink through tubing or straws.
That definition may help identify the phrase on the board, but the hat itself is not the reason the group works.
Its letters are.
Does THE BEAR mean the TV show?
The phrase can make players think of the television series or the animal.
Neither interpretation is required.
For this category, only the letters matter.
Evidence
Sources
- NYT Connections — September 24, 2026 puzzle data
- Wiktionary — beer hat