The New York Times continues to expand the appeal of its daily puzzle offerings with The New York Times Connections, a word game that tasks players with discovering hidden links between seemingly unrelated words. The May 25 puzzle, numbered #1079, delivers another entertaining mix of straightforward categories, modern abbreviations, and tricky wordplay. Today's puzzle includes categories related to promotional items, tiny amounts, texting shorthand, and a Purple category built around words commonly associated with the eye. This guide provides spoiler-free hints, the complete answers, and a quick explanation of how the puzzle operates.
What is NYT's 'Connections' game
Connections is a daily word puzzle from The New York Times that asks players to group related words together. The game uses four colour-coded difficulty levels: Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple. Yellow is generally the easiest, while Purple often involves more abstract or playful logic. Players receive 16 words and must organize them into four groups of four. Each group shares a hidden connection that may involve categories, meanings, phrases, themes, or wordplay.
NYT Connections hints for today
- Yellow: Things often given away at events or promotions
- Green: A very tiny amount of something
- Blue: Common abbreviations used in texting
- Purple: Words that can follow "eye"
NYT Connections answers for May 25, 2026
Here are the correct groupings for today's puzzle:
- Yellow – PROMOTIONAL GIVEAWAYS: CAP, PIN, SHIRT, STICKER
- Green – TINY AMOUNTS: JOT, SCRAP, SHRED, WHIT
- Blue – TEXTING ABBREVIATIONS: ATM, CYA, LOL, TIA
- Purple – EYE ___ : BALL, BROW, LASH, LID
How to play NYT Connections
The puzzle presents 16 words arranged in a grid, and your goal is to organize them into four groups of four words that share a hidden connection. A new Connections puzzle is released daily through The New York Times Games and the NYT mobile app. Players should carefully scan all 16 words and look for the most obvious links first, as rearranging the board can often reveal hidden patterns and reduce confusion. Once you identify a possible category, select the four related words and submit them as a group. Correct answers are automatically locked into place. Since players only have a limited number of incorrect guesses before the game ends, strategic thinking and elimination become especially important for solving the tougher categories.
Other NYT games to explore
If you enjoy Connections, The New York Times also offers several other popular daily puzzle games: Wordle, where you guess a five-letter word in six attempts; Spelling Bee, which challenges you to create as many words as possible using a specific set of letters; The Mini Crossword, a short daily crossword challenge; and Strands, a word-search-inspired puzzle built around hidden themes.
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