NYT Connections is a popular daily word puzzle game from The New York Times, where players must identify and group related words. The game, launched during beta testing on June 12, 2023, now ranks as the second most played game, following Wordle. This article provides guidance, hints, and the answers for the August 26, 2025, Connections puzzle. The puzzle, developed by Wyna Liu, requires players to sort sixteen words into four distinct categories. It offers varying difficulty levels, designed to improve vocabulary and provide a fun mental challenge. The game’s popularity is evident through social media discussions where players share their progress.
Today’s hints: Yellow – Identifying appearance; Green – Insulting terms; Blue – Annoying verbs; Purple – Words before “stool”.
The August 26, 2025, puzzle’s categories are: DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS, A REAL JERK, PESTER, and WORDS BEFORE “STOOL.”
The answers for August 26, 2025:
Yellow – MOLE, PIERCING, SCAR, TATTOO
Green – CREEP, HEEL, RAT, SKUNK
Blue – BADGER, BUG, HARRY, RIDE
Purple – BAR, FOOT, STEP, TOAD
To play, players analyze a grid of words, finding connections based on synonyms, antonyms, or word families. The game provides hints for assistance. Players receive a new puzzle each day, accessible via the NYT website or app. The challenge involves organizing sixteen words into groups of four, with categories like clickable items or words preceded by a body part. Players should be careful of words that could fit into multiple categories. The difficulty progresses from Yellow, to Blue and Green, to Purple. Incorrect guesses result in losing a life and the game ends after four wrong guesses.