NYT Connections Hints November 12, 2025: Check Clues and Answers to Solve Today’s Puzzle Game

Each day, fans of this New York Times puzzle are presented with a 4 × 4 grid of 16 words that seem connected. Your task? To group them into four groups of four words that share a hidden theme. The difficulty of the group is identified by colour: yellow is the easiest, green is a little bit harder, blue is harder, and the purple group is the hardest. You are allowed up to four mistakes before the puzzle ends; so, with each word choice, there is pressure. It is a clever blend of vocabulary, logic, and lateral thinking, and its size makes it a fun daily ritual for puzzle lovers.

On November 12, 2025, the Connections puzzle brought together an eclectic mix of words that touched on physical activities, silly slang, internet slang and borrowed words from another language. One group included familiar competitive activities, another group was a fun way to call someone an idiot, the third group borrowed a modern acronym you see online, and the final grouping took words from Spanish. It was a puzzle that rewarded both the quick thinking necessary to recognize obvious groupings and a slower moment of contemplation when looking for the more obscure groupings. Overall, it had a nice balance of easy and hard.

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Hints for NYT Connections November 12, 2025  

Prepare for the NYT Connections Puzzle #885 for November 12, 2025! Your assignment: discover the hidden connections between the words and arrange them into four meaningful groups. Put on your thinking cap and be creative; see if you can identify the connections before time runs out!

Yellow Group Hint: All four are competitive physical activities.

Green Group Hint: Words you might call someone being silly or foolish.

Blue Group Hint: Each is a modern initialism or abbreviation made from multiple words.

Purple Group Hint: All four are common Spanish words.

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 November 12, 2025 (Wednesday)

The answers for the New York Times Connections Puzzle #885 for January 12, 2025, are now posted! If you were trying to find the grouping of the words accurately, it is time to check how your words matched with the official words. Below we have all the groupings from today's puzzle, along with the words that fill in each grouping.

YELLOW: SPORTS (GOLF, JUDO, POLO, SUMO)

GREEN: DOOFUS (BOZO,DODO, DOPE, YO-YO)

BLUE: ACRONYMS (BOGO, FOMO, GOAT, YOLO)

PURPLE: SPANISH WORDS (COMO, LOCO, POCO, ROJO)

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?

The New York Times Connections Game is a daily online puzzle that challenges players to discern the hidden connections between words. Created by the NYT Games team, the game is played on a grid of 16 words with the goal being to identify and group four sets of four words, each sharing some commonality or interassociation with other words in the grid. Sometimes these connections can be simple, like colors or animals, though often they may be a more difficult association with wordplay, or even pop culture references. The latest term to classify the connections has been the need to point out that Connections incorporates words within the inventory, rather than simply social relationships.

In addition to basic vocabulary and word identification, the game also tests logic, intuition and pattern identification in the word relationships. Players face up to four mistakes before the game ends. This presents an opportunity to approach word selection carefully and strategically. NYT Connections is admired for its clever connection, strictly word-related structure and challenging nature. The puzzle has very quickly become a favorite of the word puzzle community around the world.

How to Play the NYT Connections Puzzle?

In the NYT Connections Puzzle, you are presented with a grid of 16 words which you will group into four sets of 4 words that share a connection. The connections may be organized by categories, in phrases, synonyms, or through cleverness. To make a connection, click on four words then submit your guess.

If successful, the four words are locked in, if unsuccessful you receive a strike. You get a maximum of 4 mistakes before the game is over. The colors of the groups are also with regard to difficulty, yellow is the least difficult and purple the most difficult, so this puzzle can be a fun and strategic daily task.

Best Strategies to Solve NYT Connections Puzzles

To efficiently solve New York Times Connections puzzles, the work begins by quickly scanning all 16 words for any obvious connection or any connection we are very familiar with, i.e., items that clearly belong to a category we are already familiar with, such as colors, animals, or movie titles. You can block out and establish those more obvious connections first. Also, look for word play, as some of the connections are based on phrases, double meanings, or similar endings. When you find a possible connection, don't haphazardly lock it in too quickly and test it out in your brain before you submit it.

If you get stuck, then shuffle your focus, or search for a connection that is less direct. Remember that for the easier groups, the yellow and green, these usually come first; and the harder groups, usually blue and purple, may require more abstract or specific words that relate to a theme. Be patient with yourself, recognize patterns, and try to think laterally to master the daily New York Times Connections puzzle.

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 November 13, 2025.