NYT Connections Hints August 26, 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.
NYT Connections Hints for August 26, 2025
- Yellow group hint: Ways to identify a person / Physical marks / Also, birthmark
- Green group hint: Loser! / Scoundrels / Also, tool
- Blue group hint: Stop that! / To bother someone / Also, annoy
- Purple group hint: Kind of like a chair / Things you’d find in IKEA / Also, close
Connections Categories Today
The connections categories for August 26, 2025, are:
| Color | Category |
|---|---|
| Yellow | Distinguishing characteristics |
| Green | A real jerk |
| Blue | Pester |
| Purple | Words before "stool" |
NYT Connections Answers for August 26, 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 (Distinguishing characteristicsr): Mole, Piercing, Scar, Tattoo
- Green (A real jerk)
- Blue (Pester): Badger, Bug, Harry, Ride
- Purple (Words before "stool"): Bar, Foot, Step, Toad
How to Play NYT Connections?
Ready to jump in? It’s easy, quirky, and a bit wild:
- Open NYT Connections (Browser or App): If you’re addicted, you know the route.
- Scan through the 16 words: Laugh (or groan) at the weirder ones first.
- Start grouping by the most obvious connections. Succeed? Great. Mess up? It’s only a “boo-boo.”
- Don’t stress about mistakes: You get four! If you’re like me, you’ll burn through them before breakfast.
- Shuffle the board: Sometimes fresh sight lines help, especially when you’re convinced “cheese” can’t possibly be part of “doodle.”
- 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.
