NYT Connections Hints August 21, 2025
Today’s Connections puzzle on August 21, 2025, brings some truly eccentric word associations—not to mention a classic game of “Wait… what does LA-LA go with, again?” If you’re here hunting for tips, a full breakdown, or just commiseration about the difference between a blunder and a gaffe, settle in.
There’s something joyful (and occasionally infuriating) about the way Connections messes with your head each morning. And yes, today’s answers are all here if you need ’em.
What is the NYT Connections Game?
The NYT Connections game is a fresh daily word puzzle from The New York Times that tasks you with finding common threads between 16 words—split into 4 groups of four. It’s sort of like Wordle’s nerdy cousin, but with a group project that can quickly devolve into “No, DIPSY can’t possibly go with SATELLITE DISH, right?” Sometimes, you stare at the grid so long you start seeing connections everywhere—in grocery lists, WiFi names, or maybe even your leftover lunch.
Created by NYT associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu, Connections has taken off, and there’s now an official Bot to track your stats, analyze scores, and probably witness your moments of playful desperation.
You get up to four mistakes, meaning there’s some room for risk, stubbornness, or fits of giggles if you’re playing with friends (or cats). If you pick the right four, those get zapped off the board—leaving you with fewer “What is LA-LA supposed to mean?” moments.
Hints for NYT Connections August 21, 2025
Let’s be honest—the hints provided today feel like NYT is winking at us. “To mess up”? “Enchanted lands”? Appendages on top? And, my favorite, “Words or phrases popularly paired with ‘doodle’.” If you want to tackle the grid yourself, here are informal tips for each color group:
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Yellow (Easiest): Think of mistakes you’d make if you tried to order sushi in a crowded subway station.
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Green (Middle): This is your fantasy realm—look for things that could be the title of a children’s book, or places only reached by flying pigs and rainbow bridges.
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Blue (Kinda tricky): Imagine a party where everyone shows up wearing antennas. Radio towers, bugs, and Teletubbies invited.
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Purple (Hardest): Fill in the blank: “_____ doodle.” If you’ve never heard of Dipsy-doodle, you’re not alone. (No, I don’t doodle cheese either—until today.)
On a personal note, every time I meet “Purple,” I groan, but scoring a win there feels like finding a $20 bill in an old coat.
Connections Categories Today
The connections categories for August 21, 2025, are:
|
Color |
Category Description |
Vibe / Examples |
|---|---|---|
|
Yellow |
Mistakes |
Boo-boo, flub, gaffe, no-no |
|
Green |
Lands of the imagination |
Dream, fantasy, la-la, never never |
|
Blue |
Things with antenna/e |
Insect, radio tower, satellite dish, Teletubby |
|
Purple |
Words or phrases with “doodle” |
Cheese doodle, Dipsy-doodle, Google-doodle, Yankee-doodle |
No state-by-state breakdown required. Just a bunch of words, some brain gymnastics, and maybe a quick cry-laugh into your coffee.
NYT Connections Answers for August 21, 2025
If you’ve reached this far, you probably want the answers—or maybe you’re just morbidly curious about how close you came before spiraling into “one away.” Here they are, informal and bare-bones—like scribbles in a notebook after a long cab ride.
Yellow (Blunder)
- BOO-BOO, FLUB, GAFFE, NO-NO
Green (Lands of the imagination)
- DREAM, FANTASY, LA-LA, NEVER NEVER
Blue (Things with antenna/e)
- INSECT, RADIO TOWER, SATELLITE DISH, TELETUBBY
Purple (____ doodle)
- CHEESE, DIPSY, GOOGLE, YANKEE
How to Play NYT Connections?
Ready to jump in? It’s easy, quirky, and a bit wild:
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Open NYT Connections (Browser or App): If you’re addicted, you know the route.
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Scan through the 16 words: Laugh (or groan) at the weirder ones first.
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Start grouping by the most obvious connections. Succeed? Great. Mess up? It’s only a “boo-boo.”
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Don’t stress about mistakes: You get four! If you’re like me, you’ll burn through them before breakfast.
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Shuffle the board: Sometimes fresh sight lines help, especially when you’re convinced “cheese” can’t possibly be part of “doodle.”
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Celebrate small victories. Perfect scores are fun, but sometimes just surviving to the end is the real thrill.
Play occasionally with a partner or in a Slack channel. Swap wild guesses (“Is Teletubby a cheese?”). Build inside jokes. And, if you’re like me, you’ll start seeing “blunder” and “fantasy” in everyday life—bank holidays included.
If you enjoyed today’s Connections, we look forward to seeing you here tomorrow. If you didn’t—hey, at least you learned something about doodles, antennae, and imaginative lands. And maybe, just maybe, never underestimate Google’s ability to sneak into a word puzzle.
