NYT Connections Hints September 25, 2025: Check Clues and Answers to Solve Today’s Puzzle Game

NYT Connections is a daily word game that asks players to find relationships between listed words that seem unrelated. The game gives players a list of 16 words, and players must make four groups of four words. Some groupings jump out at players, while others are hidden and rely on logic and lateral thinking. Compared to crossword puzzles or Wordle, Connections is less vocabulary-based and more based on recognizing patterns, and is both challenging and satisfying.

In its latest offering, the September 25, 2025 edition of NYT Connections, provided a well-balanced challenge, featuring a couple of categories with terms you can spot immediately and some that had you thinking a little longer about the term selections. There were a few words in the list that were just there to goof things up, and the more challenging groups required attention to detail. This was one of those puzzles that kept solvers alert and proved once again that there was a sense of accomplishment when you solved all four groups.

Check Out: NYT Connections Hints September 22, 2025: Check Clues and Answers to Solve Today’s Puzzle Game

Hints for NYT Connections September 25, 2025  

Puzzle (#838) of NYT Connections created a nice mix of easy finds and challenging connections. There was a pleasant mix of tying words together and cultural references that made it fun without being overly challenging. 

If you were able to connect all four groups, congratulations! If you didn't connect all four groups this time, don't feel bad; each time you attempt the puzzle, you're developing sharper skills for the next time.

Yellow Group Hint: These are all things you might request when treating yourself at a dessert shop.

Green Group Hint: These words are tied to progressive politics and are often associated with liberal viewpoints.

Blue Group Hint: Each of these titles is a film starring Matt Damon, and they all include a very common three-letter article at the beginning.

Purple Group Hint: This name connects figures from mythology, history, and popular culture, from gods to boxers to spacecraft.

Stepping back will often expose the clever logic that provided the unifying. Let’s take a moment to go through the groups together and explore the connections that tie these words together so nicely.

NYT Connections Answers for September 25, 2025 (Thursday)

NYT Connections Puzzle (#838) included several simple groupings and a couple of entertaining surprises. Combining cultural references with clever wordplay made it enjoyable, but not too confusing. If you completed all four groups, that's an accomplishment! If you did not, no worries, you are still practicing your pattern recognition! The important part is to keep playing and enjoying yourself, because with each puzzle, you are building your instincts.

YELLOW: ICE CREAM PARLOR ORDERS (CONE, CUP, SHAKE, SPLIT)

GREEN: LEFT-LEANING, POLITICALLY (BLUE, LEFT, LIBERAL, PROGRESSIVE)

BLUE: MATT DAMON MOVIES, WITH "THE" (DEPARTED, GOOD SHEPHERD, MARTIAN, RAINMAKER)

PURPLE: NAMED "APOLLO" (FICTIONAL BOXER, GREEK/ROMAN GOD, SPACECRAFT, THEATER)

It’s perfectly fine if you don’t complete a Connections puzzle, or if you need to set it aside before reaching the solution.

What is the NYT Connections Game?

For many who write and solve crossword puzzles every day, The New York Times Connections has become a big piece in that daily puzzle, using words (letters) as a challenge. The difference in the Connections puzzle is that you are working to put together the pattern from the words rather than solving a crossword grid. The connections puzzle hones the puzzle-player into dealing with pattern recognition, creative ideas, and sometimes clever cultural references.

Each of the four will have a color associated with the solution. Green is usually the easiest color group, yellow is next, and blue is last, and is usually the most difficult color group. Connections becomes so addictive for the player because of the combination of logical and creative experiences. To start, the puzzle is an unusually easy exercise, but the further you go, the more words you have, and you want to play again the next day for something different.

How to Play the NYT Connections Puzzle

At first glance, NYT Connections looks like an unadulterated word game, and with its undeniably clear interface, it is easy to come to that conclusion. While certainly there are specific definitional and/or relationship connections in some of the groups, many others rely on pop-cultural connections, wordplay, and thematic or semantic connections that may not be as obvious and fall much deeper into the abstraction of structuring themes. 

Lastly, further to enjoyment and engagement to play again, it is certainly worth the experience to enjoy the experience of play again .

Best Strategies to Solve NYT Connections Puzzles

One useful suggestion while working on the NYT Connections puzzle is to first sort the easier groups, typically one of the yellow or green ones, because it helps you a bit with "bones" for the other, sometimes harder categories (less space on the board), and usually gives you some clues to the more difficult connections. If you end up stuck after identifying the easier groups, try moving the words again into different positions a second time, moving them around, saying the words out loud, etc. 

 Sometimes, taking a small break or simply a different thought or perspective will help you find the link you were unable to find earlier. Also, note that the groups sometimes do not have to go together because of definitions.  They can be cultural references or clever wordplay, or just a logical connection, as well.  In fact, when you go to begin forming the words into groups, part of your job will be to keep an open mind, make some guesses, try things out, and rethink your formations!

Other NYT Games to Explore

If NYT Connections has become your new favorite, check out other daily brain teasers and games from The New York Times. 

Wordle: Guess a five-letter word in six attempts. 

Spelling Bee: Craft as many words as possible from a set of seven letters.

Mini Crossword: For a quick wordplay, perfect for a coffee break.

That's all for today's NYT Connections puzzle! Be sure to come back tomorrow for NYT Connections Hints and Answers for September 26, 2025.