NYT Connections: Hints, Categories & How to Play (August 22, 2025)
Conquer the NYT Connections Puzzle: Hints, Categories, and Strategies
The New York Times’ Connections game has become a daily ritual for many, offering a stimulating word puzzle that challenges your vocabulary and pattern recognition skills. If you’re looking for a little help with today’s Connections puzzle, you’ve come to the right place. This guide provides hints, category reveals, and gameplay strategies to help you conquer the August 22, 2025, challenge.
What is NYT Connections?
Connections is a word association game where you must group 16 seemingly unrelated words into four categories of four. Created by the NYT’s associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu, the game is available on the web and mobile devices.
The goal is to identify the hidden links between the words and successfully categorize them. It sounds simple, but the game’s increasing difficulty and clever wordplay can make it a real brain-teaser.
Here’s how it works:
- The Grid: You’re presented with a 4x4 grid of 16 words.
- Find the Connections: Your task is to find the common thread that links four words together.
- Make Your Guesses: Select four words you believe belong to the same category and submit your guess.
- Four Attempts: You have a maximum of four attempts to solve the entire puzzle. Incorrect guesses count as mistakes.
- Color-Coded Categories: Each category has a difficulty level, represented by a color: Yellow (easiest), Green, Blue, and Purple (hardest).
Players can also shuffle the board to rearrange the words and potentially reveal hidden connections.
Today’s Connections Hints (August 22, 2025)
Before we reveal the categories, let’s give you some hints to nudge you in the right direction:
- Yellow: Think about leadership roles.
- Green: These folks are known for their performances on the big screen.
- Blue: Place your bets!
- Purple: Consider popular movies from the 90s.
Strategy Tip:
Start with the categories you find easiest. Identifying the yellow category first can give you a foothold and make it easier to spot the remaining connections. Also, pay attention to words that seem to have multiple possible connections – they might be a red herring!
Today’s Connections Categories Revealed
Still stumped? Here are the categories for today’s Connections puzzle:
- Yellow: U.S. Presidents
- Green: Actors Whose Last Names Are Also Verbs
- Blue: Kinds of Poker
- Purple: Proper Nouns After Gerunds in ’90s Movie Titles
The Solution to Connections #804
Ready to see the answers? Here’s the solution to today’s Connections puzzle:
- U.S. Presidents: ADAMS, FORD, GRANT, HAYES
- Actors Whose Last Names Are Also Verbs: BACON, HAMM, FOX, WEAVER
- Kinds of Poker: OMAHA, STUD, TEXAS, DRAW
- Proper Nouns After Gerunds in ’90s Movie Titles: SLEEPING, SCREAMING, KISSING, BITING
Actionable Takeaway
To improve your Connections skills, practice identifying different types of word associations. Look for synonyms, antonyms, categories, and common phrases. The more you play, the better you’ll become at spotting hidden connections. Consider playing other word games like Wordle or crosswords to expand your vocabulary and pattern recognition abilities.
FAQ About NYT Connections
- How often does Connections update?
- Connections releases a new puzzle every day at midnight.
- Where can I play Connections?
- You can play Connections on the New York Times website or through the NYT Games app.
- Is Connections free to play?
- Connections is free to play, but some other NYT games require a subscription.
- Can I share my Connections results?
- Yes, you can share your results on social media using the game’s built-in sharing feature.
Key Takeaways
- Connections is a word association game where you group 16 words into four categories.
- Each category is color-coded by difficulty: Yellow (easiest) to Purple (hardest).
- You have four attempts to solve the puzzle.
- Practice and familiarity with word associations are key to success.
- The solution to today’s puzzle (August 22, 2025) is provided above.
Good luck with your next Connections puzzle!
Source: Mashable
