NYT Connections today (September 23, 2025): full hints and answers — If you are hunting for connections hints today and want the NYT Connections answers without guesswork, this guide gives you both: gentle nudges first, the complete solution grid next, strategy notes to protect your streak, and a quick look at sports connections for The Athletic’s edition. Bookmark this if you play connections nyt daily; it is designed to surface fast in Google and help you solve faster with clean, spoiler-controlled sections.
Quick answer: NYT Connections #835 for Tuesday, Sept 23
Categories today: Cheerful mood words; a classic tongue-twister set; kinds of luggage; title characters in ’80s movies.
- Yellow — CHEERFUL: BOUNCY, BRIGHT, MERRY, SUNNY
- Green — “RUBBER BABY BUGGY BUMPER”: BABY, BUGGY, BUMPER, RUBBER
- Blue — KINDS OF LUGGAGE: CARRY-ON, DUFFEL, HARD-SHELL, ROLLER
- Purple — TITLE CHARACTERS IN ’80s MOVIES: FERRIS, HEATHER, INDIANA, PEE-WEE
If that is all you came for, you are done. If you want help getting there without spoilers, scroll to the hint ladder below.
Connections hints today (spoiler-light)
Use this ladder to avoid revealing the whole board at once. Stop when you have enough momentum.
- Group themes only:
- Yellow: A mood you would love to bring to work on a Friday.
- Green: Four words that assemble a famous tongue-twister everyone mangles.
- Blue: Think airport concourses and overhead bins.
- Purple: Their names are on the posters, not just in the cast list.
- One nudge per set:
- Yellow: The vibe of a bright spring morning.
- Green: Start with BABY and BUGGY, then the rest clicks.
- Blue: One rolls; one is rigid.
- Purple: Breakfast club era, but not that film.
- Two-word push:
- Yellow: BRIGHT pairs nicely with SUNNY.
- Green: BUGGY and BUMPER belong together for a reason.
- Blue: DUFFEL is the anchor, not a trap.
- Purple: FERRIS and INDIANA are safe bets.
Full grid today: the 16 words
FERRIS, BUMPER, ROLLER, BRIGHT, HARD-SHELL, BOUNCY, RUBBER, DUFFEL, MERRY, PEE-WEE, BUGGY, CARRY-ON, HEATHER, BABY, SUNNY, INDIANA.
Why these connections work
Cheerful: BOUNCY, BRIGHT, MERRY, SUNNY all signal a positive, upbeat mood. A classic Yellow, and the gentlest way to build momentum. If you spotted two of them, the other two often snap into place once you shuffle the board and read for tone.
“Rubber baby buggy bumper”: BABY, BUGGY, BUMPER, RUBBER are a self-contained quartet. Saying the phrase out loud can be surprisingly effective. Any time you suspect a set forms a known expression, test it by speaking it. Connections thrives on ear-feel patterns like this.
Kinds of luggage: CARRY-ON, DUFFEL, HARD-SHELL, ROLLER belong to the same travel aisle. The misdirection is ROLLER, which looks like a ride reference alongside FERRIS and BUMPER. Resist the fairground lure until you confirm a clear, shared noun form.
Title characters in ’80s movies: FERRIS (Bueller’s Day Off), HEATHER (Heathers), INDIANA (Jones), PEE-WEE (Big Adventure). Title-name sets often appear as Purple because a single false association can collapse the group. Keep a light grip and use elimination after locking Yellow and Green.
Common traps on Sept 23
- The amusement park mirage: FERRIS, ROLLER, BUMPER, MERRY feels close to “rides” but it is a red herring. Only one of those belongs in a ride set today, and it is not used that way in the final solution.
- Color bias: Many solvers assume HEATHER is a color family. It is, but that path does not resolve to a clean four today. Always favor categories that can yield exactly four items in the grid.
- Syntax confusion: HARD-SHELL is hyphenated and can read like an adjective. When in doubt, map it as a product type. If it lives in an airport carousel, it probably belongs with luggage terms.
Step-by-step solve path
- Open with tone words: Group BRIGHT and SUNNY first, then test MERRY and BOUNCY to confirm Yellow. Locking an easy set reduces the search space dramatically.
- Say it out loud: BABY and BUGGY should jump out. Speak the tongue-twister once. That pulls in BUMPER and RUBBER for Green.
- Sort the bags: Is it something a traveler would pack or wheel? CARRY-ON and DUFFEL are obvious. HARD-SHELL pairs with ROLLER to finish Blue.
- Eliminate to finish: You will be left with FERRIS, HEATHER, INDIANA, PEE-WEE. If a name stands alone without a clear category elsewhere, it likely supports a title-character set. Purple done.
Strategy that still works on “hard” days
Know the color cadence: Yellow is straightforward, Green is a little tighter, Blue leans technical or niche, and Purple tends to be lateral or wordplay heavy. The difficulty is the category, not the words themselves. Use that cadence to plan your solve route. If you want the evergreen rules, gameplay, difficulty levels & tips for the Connections game, keep an eye on our game hub.
Exploit elimination: After two sets are locked, the final eight almost always split into one semantic set and one lateral set. Label which is which, then test against the remaining candidates. If three look perfect and the fourth is shaky, you probably have two overlapping themes and need a swap.
Spot homophones and set phrases: When tiles feel unrelated, check for sound-alike or stock-phrase scaffolds. Today’s tongue-twister is the textbook case.
Treat traps as information: Nearly fooled by the ride mirage today? Great. Ask why it felt strong. That meta-read will rescue you when a future grid actually does feature amusement rides.
FAQ for new solvers
Connections rotates at midnight local time. If you are crossing time zones, your “today” might not match someone else’s.
Four. The puzzle ends on your fifth error, so bank one life until you have a lockable set.
Officially, Connections is one-a-day. Many players practice on third-party “unlimited” versions to train pattern recognition, but your official streak lives on the NYT game page.
Today’s Sports Connections (The Athletic)
If you play the Sports Connections NYT edition, here is today’s snapshot to keep your streak intact. As always, try hints before you reveal everything.
- Yellow — SUPPORTER: FAN, DIE-HARD, BACKER, BUFF
- Green — FOOTBALL OFFENSES: SPREAD, WISHBONE, OPTION, WEST COAST
- Blue — MLB PITCHERS TO THROW A PERFECT GAME: CONE, HALLADAY, CAIN, HUNTER
- Purple — _____ JAM: NBA, SPACE, MONSTER, KAN
Note how NBA, SPACE, and MONSTER cluster instantly, but the fourth entry only unlocks when you remember the disc game “KanJam.” Sports Edition loves short forms and brandish spellings, so keep an eye out for clipped tiles like KAN in a fill-in-the-blank set.
How to play Connections like a pro
Know the color cadence: Yellow is straightforward, Green is a little tighter, Blue leans technical or niche, and Purple tends to be lateral or wordplay heavy. The difficulty is the category, not the words themselves. Use that cadence to plan your solve route. If you want the evergreen rules, gameplay, difficulty levels & tips for the Connections game, keep an eye on our game hub.
Exploit elimination: After two sets are locked, the final eight almost always split into one semantic set and one lateral set. Label which is which, then test against the remaining candidates. If three look perfect and the fourth is shaky, you probably have two overlapping themes and need a swap.
Spot homophones and set phrases: When tiles feel unrelated, check for sound-alike or stock-phrase scaffolds. Today’s tongue-twister is the textbook case.
Treat traps as information: Nearly fooled by the ride mirage today? Great. Ask why it felt strong. That meta-read will rescue you when a future grid actually does feature amusement rides.
FAQ for new solvers
Connections rotates at midnight local time. If you are crossing time zones, your “today” might not match someone else’s.
Four. The puzzle ends on your fifth error, so bank one life until you have a lockable set.
Officially, Connections is one-a-day. Many players practice on third-party “unlimited” versions to train pattern recognition, but your official streak lives on the NYT game page.
Editor’s note for regulars
We update a daily stream of NYT connections hints today and connections answers today, plus coverage of sibling NYT games that many solvers pair with Connections. For more on how to play, see our detailed guide to rules, gameplay and solving tips—it’s a must-read for new and veteran solvers alike.
 with spoiler-light hints, full answers, and sports edition groups.){kind=link}