NYT Connections Hints September 29, 2025: Check Clues and Answers to Solve Today’s Puzzle Game

The NYT Connections puzzle from The New York Times is rapidly becoming one of the most interesting daily word games for players around the world. Rather than completing the typical crossword or word search, Connections requires players to put 16 words, apparently unrelated, into four distinct categories. Every round also demands strong observational skills, lateral thinking, and an element of intuition. The game walks the line between fun and challenge, as some categories are clear, while others are masked behind witty misdirection.

In its edition of September 29, 2025,  NYT Connections provided a delightful set of categories, which included everything from basics to pop culture references. The groups included kinds of underwear, funny terms for fooling around, mechanical components in a toilet tank, and the first words from famous rock songs of the 1970s. It was a great blend of humor and nostalgia, as the solvers enjoyed a pleasant progression from simple to difficult connections.

Check Out: NYT Connections Hints September 25, 2025: Check Clues and Answers to Solve Today’s Puzzle Game

Hints for NYT Connections September 29, 2025  

The NYT Connections Puzzle (#842) offered some easy word matches and some harder associations, but gave you immediate satisfaction while still making you think. The puzzle included cultural references and great puns, while keeping things light and enjoyable. If you finished all four sets, congratulations! 

Yellow Group Hint: Things you might find folded neatly in a dresser drawer.

Green Group Hint: Ways to mess with someone for fun.

Blue Group Hint: Hidden hardware inside your bathroom essentials.

Purple Group Hint: The opening words of some legendary classic rock anthems.

Stepping back will often expose the clever logic that provided the unifying. Let’s take a moment to go through the groups together and explore the connections that tie these words together so nicely.

NYT Connections Answers for September 26, 2025 (Monday)

Not only did the NYT Connections Puzzle (#842) showcase several easy groups, but it also provided some fun surprises. The combination of culture, humor, and double meanings made for an easy, straightforward experience; it wasn't too jumbled. If you did manage to solve each group, congrats! If not, don't fret, you are still working on recognition! Either way, the point is to keep doing puzzles and enjoy it as you develop your instincts each time you do a puzzle.

YELLOW: KINDS OF UNDERWEAR (BOXER, BRIEF, HIPSTER, THONG)

GREEN: PLAY A JOKE ON (FOOL, PRANK, PUNK, TRICK)

BLUE: PARTS OF A TOILET TANK (CHAIN, FLAPPER, FLOAT, HANDLE)

PURPLE: FIRST WORDS IN '70S ROCK SONG TITLES (BABA, BOHEMIAN, HOTEL, STAIRWAY)

It’s perfectly fine if you don’t complete a Connections puzzle, or if you need to set it aside before reaching the solution.

What is the NYT Connections Game?

For many on a daily basis, going to The New York Times and solving crossword puzzles is a regular part of their morning puzzle using words (letters) as the challenge. The difference in the Connections puzzle is that you are forming the pattern formed from the groups of words, rather than solving a crossword grid. The connections puzzle sharpens the puzzle-player to turn to pattern recognition, sometimes having creative ideas come into play, and sometimes clever cultural references.

Each of the four will have a color associated with the solution. Green is typically the easiest color group, yellow is next, and blue is last and the most difficult color group. Connections can become so addictive for the player because of the blend of logic and creativity. To start, this puzzle is an unusually easy exercise, but as you go along you have more words, and the next day you want to play again because it is a different exercise.

How to Play the NYT Connections Puzzle

At first glance, NYT Connections looks like an unadulterated word game, and with its undeniably clear interface, it is easy to come to that conclusion. While certainly there are specific definitional and/or relationship connections in some of the groups, many others rely on pop-cultural connections, wordplay, and thematic or semantic connections that may not be as obvious and fall much deeper into abstraction of structuring themes. 

Lastly, further to enjoyment and engagement to play again, it is certainly worth the experience to enjoy the experience of play again .

Best Strategies to Solve NYT Connections Puzzles

One useful suggestion while working on the NYT Connections puzzle is to first sort the easier groups, typically one of the yellow or green ones, because it helps you a bit with "bones" for the other, sometimes harder categories (less space on the board), and usually gives you some clues to the more difficult connections. If you end up stuck after identifying the easier groups, try moving the words again into different positions a second time, moving them around, saying the words out loud, etc. 

Sometimes, taking a small break or simply a different thought or perspective will help you find the link you were unable to find earlier. Also, note that the groups sometimes do not have to go together because of definitions.  They can be cultural references or clever wordplay, or just a logical connection, as well.  In fact, when you go to begin forming the words into groups, part of your job will be to keep an open mind, make some guesses, try things out, and rethink your formations!

Other NYT Games to Explore

If NYT Connections has become your new favorite, check out other daily brain teasers and games from The New York Times. 

Wordle: Guess a five-letter word in six attempts. 

Spelling Bee: Craft as many words as possible from a set of seven letters.

Mini Crossword: For a quick wordplay, perfect for a coffee break.

That's all for today's NYT Connections puzzle! Be sure to come back tomorrow for NYT Connections Hints and Answers for September 30, 2025.