NYT Connections Answers and hints, April 25, 2025: Here’s a quick guide to solve the Friday challenge

The New York Times’ Connections puzzle for Thursday, April 25 (Puzzle #684), delivered another multi-layered challenge for word game enthusiasts.

With four cryptic categories to decipher, participants were once again called upon to group 16 words into cohesive themes, a task deceptively simple at first glance but intricate in execution.


The increasingly popular game, NYT Connections, continues to engage readers by pushing linguistic limits and testing thematic association.

As with previous editions, Friday’s puzzle followed its standard format, four groups, four words each but with an unpredictable mix of clues and connections.

What Is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is a daily brain-teasing game hosted by The New York Times. The premise is straightforward: sort 16 jumbled words into four clusters of four, each unified by a common theme.

However, the themes can range from grammar and science to pop culture or idioms, making accuracy and logic essential.

Unlike other NYT puzzles such as Wordle or the Mini Crossword, Connections does not follow an algorithmic logic — players must rely on intuition, wordplay experience, and a keen eye for subtle links.

NYT Connectins Hints for April 25 Puzzle

For players stuck mid-way or looking for a gentle push without revealing the entire solution, the following hints were provided for the day’s four mystery groups, as mentioned in a report by How To Geek.

• Yellow: Something to chew on
  
• Green: The thing that begins it all
  
• Blue: Related to music
  
• Purple: Not a pipe, but close
  

These clues, while suggestive, required sharp interpretative skills to convert them into successful groupings.

NYT Connections Answers for April 25, 2025

For readers seeking full resolution, here are the correct groupings for Puzzle #684:

• Yellow – Gum Flavors:
  Bubblegum, Cinnamon, Menthol, Wintergreen
  
• Green – Starting Point:
  Catalyst, Launchpad, Spark, Springboard
  
• Blue – Great American Songbook Songs:
  Autumn Leaves, Summertime, Unforgettable, Witchcraft
  
• Purple – ___ Tube:
  Fallopian, Inner, Test, Vacuum
  

The blue group, dedicated to iconic songs from the Great American Songbook, proved to be particularly challenging for younger players less familiar with classic jazz and pop standards.

Meanwhile, the purple category played on anatomical and mechanical terms that often end in “tube,” offering a blend of scientific and everyday knowledge.

Strategy for Solving Connections

While there is no universal approach to mastering NYT Connections, some players find success by categorizing words by their parts of speech noun, verb, adjective and then checking for patterns. Others consider possible puns, common phrases, or shared suffixes.

It's also common for the NYT to introduce red herrings — words that could logically fit into multiple categories — to trip up hasty guesses. Thus, careful analysis remains key.

FAQs

Can I play NYT Connections for free?

At present, no registration or sign-in is required. Connections is free to play across all platforms.

How many mistakes are allowed in Connections?

When a player successfully identifies all four words in a group, those words are removed from the board. However, each incorrect guess counts as a mistake, and players are allowed up to four mistakes before the game ends.