NYT Connections answers for today (Wednesday, September 24, 2025) are in — and the grid leans cinematic, tactile, and just a touch sweet. If you’re here for light nudges before the full reveal, start with the spoiler-free hints below. If you need the complete set of categories and tiles, jump to the Today’s answers section. We also include a quick recap of yesterday’s board, strategy notes for streak protection, and a mini-FAQ for new players of the Connections game. For newcomers who want a deeper overview, our evergreen NYT Connections guide covers rules, colors, and common traps.
Quick guide: how today’s puzzle feels
Today’s Connections (#836) plays fair. One set is straight synonyms, one is a common action expressed four ways, one is a visual/theme clue you can “see” when you say the words out loud, and the last is a fill-in-the-blank phrase that many solvers spot first. Expect a smooth open, a little hesitation in the middle, and a tidy finish if you resist obvious traps.
Today’s grid (all 16 words)
PICTURE, PEPPER, POTATO, BRAIN, PRUNE, TALK, SHAR PEI, LITTER, FLICK, SPRINKLE, FEATURE, TOOTH, SIXTEEN, CREPE PAPER, SCATTER, FILM.
Independent confirmation of the full grid appears in today’s roundups from Tech media and puzzle sites.
Spoiler-free hints
- Group hint 1 (easiest): Four different words for the same thing you watch.
- Group hint 2: Think about how crumbs, confetti, or spice end up everywhere.
- Group hint 3: Picture textures and folds; one of these is a famously wrinkled dog.
- Group hint 4 (trickiest): A simple word completes all four phrases — and it is the opposite of “sour.”
Today’s answers (full solution)
YELLOW — MOVIE: FEATURE, FILM, FLICK, PICTURE (see today’s coverage)
GREEN — STREW: LITTER, PEPPER, SCATTER, SPRINKLE
BLUE — WRINKLY THINGS: BRAIN, CREPE PAPER, PRUNE, SHAR PEI
PURPLE — SWEET ____: POTATO, SIXTEEN, TALK, TOOTH
Category walk-through and common traps
Why “MOVIE” first: When a grid contains FEATURE, FILM, FLICK, and PICTURE, you’re looking at a classic synonym sweep. These tiles often appear together and are designed to give you momentum. Don’t let FILM tempt you into material-based groupings (e.g., plastic film) — today’s set clearly means cinema.
“STREW” is about action, not objects: LITTER, PEPPER, SCATTER, and SPRINKLE all describe dispersal in small bits. Watch for the part-of-speech switch: PEPPER looks like a noun, but the verb “to pepper” means to cover with many small hits or specks. If you found yourself toggling PEPPER between noun and verb columns, that’s the intended misdirection.
The tactile set (“WRINKLY THINGS”) rewards imagery: Say each word and conjure the texture. SHAR PEI is the anchor — once you clock the dog’s folds, PRUNE follows. BRAIN and CREPE PAPER round out the theme by visual pattern, not taxonomy. Many solvers hesitate on CREPE PAPER because it doesn’t feel “alive” like the others; remember that Connections often groups by look and feel, not just category labels.
The finisher (“SWEET ____”): Fill-in-the-blank purple sets are beloved because they’re clean and decisive. SWEET POTATO, SWEET SIXTEEN, SWEET TALK, and SWEET TOOTH click together with no stragglers. If you solved this before blue, you probably did what many experienced players do: lock the phrase set first to thin the board.
Strategy notes and streak savers
Scan for a “language lock.” Before shuffling, look for four items that become unambiguous when you add a missing word (like SWEET) or remove one (plural/singular harmonies). Phrase-based groups frequently anchor purple.
Sort by part of speech, then relax it. Start strict — verbs with verbs, nouns with nouns. Once you identify a verb set like STREW, loosen the rule to allow a noun that commonly functions as a verb (PEPPER) to slide in, provided the meanings align. For graded, spoiler-light help, Tom’s Guide keeps an updated daily hub of Connections hints.
Use the “imagery test.” If a cluster feels aesthetic rather than lexical, say each word and picture how it looks or feels. That’s how WRINKLY THINGS comes together when logic stalls.
Bank the obvious, protect your guesses. Confirm one easy set early (today it’s MOVIE) to reduce the solution space. With four mistakes available, avoid burning lives on speculative foursomes; test two or three tiles at a time by rotating candidates through your strongest trio.
Yesterday’s board (for reference)
If you’re catching up or tracking patterns, yesterday’s puzzle (#835, Tuesday, September 23) broke down as:
- CHEERFUL: BOUNCY, BRIGHT, MERRY, SUNNY
- “RUBBER BABY BUGGY BUMPER”: BABY, BUGGY, BUMPER, RUBBER
- KINDS OF LUGGAGE: CARRY-ON, DUFFEL, HARD-SHELL, ROLLER
- TITLE CHARACTERS IN ’80s MOVIES: FERRIS, HEATHER, INDIANA, PEE-WEE
For a dated recap, see yesterday’s Connections answers page.
What is NYT Connections? A refresher
Connections is a daily word grouping puzzle from the New York Times. You’re given 16 tiles and must sort them into four groups of four based on a shared theme. Difficulty rises by color from yellow to purple. You can make up to four mistakes; after that, the board reveals itself. The game is free to play in the NYT Games app on Android and on web; if you enjoy word games, our NYT Wordle guide and NYT Mini Crossword page are great companions.
Pattern trends to watch this week
Editors like alternating between tidy synonym sets and more conceptual visual sets. We’ve seen sports, food, and pop-culture buckets in recent cycles, and tactile/aesthetic categories like today’s “wrinkly” pop up frequently. There’s also a dedicated Connections: Sports Edition (developed with The Athletic) that launched widely in 2025 — worth a try if you prefer team trivia and stat lore. For background on the spin-off and the main game’s growth, check the NYT Games overview.
Trainer drills if you’re stuck
- Read aloud, twice. Homophones and shared suffixes reveal themselves when spoken. It’s how many solvers separate phrase-completers (Sweet ___) from look-alike nouns.
- Build a likely trio, then A/B test the fourth. Instead of guessing four at once, confirm the strongest three and rotate the fourth candidate through. This reduces errors dramatically.
- Shuffle with intent. If you’ve stared at the same arrangement for more than 20 seconds, shuffle. New adjacency can surface hidden relationships.
- Map ambiguity. If a word fits two groups (e.g., PEPPER), mark both possibilities mentally, then decide after you lock one of those groups elsewhere. If you want gentle, layered nudges, Mashable’s syndicated Connections hints today get referenced across portals; Tom’s Guide’s daily page above is a reliable alternative without heavy spoilers.
Today’s difficulty snapshot
Community consensus and major guides pegged today as on the easier side, largely due to an accessible synonym set and a clean “Sweet ___” purple finish. The blue group is the only one that nudges you toward imagery rather than definition — exactly where many solvers slowed down.
Archive play, unlimited practice, and streak care
If you’re trying to preserve a long streak, consider practicing with past boards to sharpen your eye for phrase completions and visual categories. Track the frequency of pop-culture buckets (film, music, TV) and alternating verb/noun action sets like today’s STREW. Many players keep notes on “recurring trick words” — tiles like PEPPER, SPICE, or ROLL that switch parts of speech or meanings across weeks. If you solved Connections early and want another warm-up, try our latest NYT Spelling Bee answers today, September 23 recap, or head to the evergreen Spelling Bee guide for pattern drills.
Final take
Today’s Connections rewards method over impulse. Lock MOVIE, hunt the verbs, test for texture, and let the purple phrase set close the book. If you play this sequence in order, you’ll likely finish with lives to spare — and a streak intact.
