FOURSURE

September 22, 2026 Puzzle Breakdown

Four groups, four words each — here's the connections between today's words.

We start things off gently today with a collection of cold weather clothing designed to keep you warm. Coat, parka, jacket, and fleece are all outer layers you would grab on a chilly day, with nothing sneaky hiding under the surface. If you solved this one in under ten seconds, that was entirely by design.

Anyone who has ever tackled home renovation knows the messy progression behind this second set. Once the boards are hung, you tape the seams, apply plaster to smooth the joints, sand it flat, and finish with a coat of paint. It is dusty work, but at least piecing the steps together on the board was straightforward.

These are all classic ways to prepare a spud, though Hasselback might have sent you reaching for a cookbook. Baked, mashed, and roasted are familiar culinary staples, while the Swedish accordion cut adds just enough flair to push this set into the second-hardest slot. Hopefully your starch knowledge was sharp enough to slice through the distraction.

For the hardest category of the day, you had to mentally throw on a red swimsuit and head back to 1989. Anderson, Newman, Williams, and Fiore are all the last names of actors who patrolled the beaches on Baywatch. Pamela Anderson might have been the obvious anchor here, but spotting the rest of the cast list required some serious syndication nostalgia.