NYT Connections puzzle hint and answer for Wednesday, September 6 (#87)

pcgamer.com:

Some days that final pair of Connections just can't seem to untangle themselves—not before you've run out of attempts, anyway. Save your game, your nerves, and your stats in an instant with a little look at every single answer for the Wednesday September 6 (87) puzzle, or just give yourself a nudge in the right direction with today's hints if you'd prefer.

I solved today's Connections in a strange order, leaping straight from the yellow group to the purple and somehow saving the greens until last. It made sense at the time and besides, a win's a win.

Yellow: What sort of monsters show up in fairy tales?

Green: Think floral—and be specific

Blue: Only the sneakiest people earn these titles

Purple: What's your star sign? No, the other star sign. 

Don't scroll any further until you're ready for the full answers!

Yellow: Gnome, Goblin, Ogre, Troll

Green: Bud, Leaf, Petal, Stalk

Blue: Agent, Mole, Plant, Spy

Purple: Dragon, Horse, Rabbit, Tiger

Connections is the NYT's latest popular puzzle game where you have to find the common thread that ties four seemingly unrelated words together. Can you find all four increasingly challenging groups of words before you make four mistakes? Don't forget: every day only has one solution even if some words look like they could belong to more than one group, and you can (and should) shuffle the grid as many times as you need to. It can help jog your brain into reading the words in a different way.

If you enjoy Connections, you should check out the board game Codenames. It's a popular party game that tasks players with using clues to guess certain words from a grid. As in Connections, the heart of the game lies in how many different possible interpretations the words could have.