Here's the final Connections puzzle of the week… and the 425th since it began more than a year ago. Give it a try, see if you can solve it, use my hints if not.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief and has been obsessed with Wordle and its ilk for more than two years. He's authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar, including a daily today's Wordle answer column and a detailed analysis of the most common letters in Wordle in every position. He's also played every Wordle ever and only lost once and yes, he takes it all too seriously.
NYT Connections today (game #425) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- HORROR
- CHEERLEADER
- PUNK
- JOCK
- MIA
- GOTH
- WAVE
- GLAM
- CHAMPION
- ELSEWHERE
- VALUE
- EXPONENT
- GONE
- METAL
- ADVOCATE
- ABSENT
NYT Connections today (game #425) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Not here
- Green: Fan
- Blue: Play it loud
- Purple: [Word for a surprise] blank
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #425) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: NOT PRESENT
- GREEN: SUPPORTER
- BLUE: ROCK GENRES
- PURPLE: SHOCK ___
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #425) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #425, are…
- YELLOW: NOT PRESENT ABSENT, ELSEWHERE, GONE, MIA
- GREEN: SUPPORTER ADVOCATE, CHAMPION, CHEERLEADER, EXPONENT
- BLUE: ROCK GENRES GLAM, GOTH, METAL, PUNK
- PURPLE: SHOCK ___ HORROR, JOCK, VALUE, WAVE
- My rating: Easy
- My score: 1 mistake
I was a little careless today, lulled into a false sense of security by completing green and yellow very quickly at the start of the game then being faced with what looked like two more easy groups. And they were – but for some reason I played [SHOCK] JOCK, VALUE, HORROR and… METAL? I have no idea why I thought SHOCK METAL was a thing, but I corrected my mistake swiftly with WAVE, and completed this Connections puzzle in no more than a couple of minutes once again. I sense a more difficult Connections game may be coming soon… surely?
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, 8 August, game #424)
- YELLOW: SPLASHY WAYS TO ENTER A POOL BACKFLIP, BELLYFLOP, CANNONBALL, JACKKNIFE
- GREEN: REITERATE ECHO, PARROT, QUOTE, REPEAT
- BLUE: MAINSTAY ANCHOR, BACKBONE, CORNERSTONE, PILLAR
- PURPLE: ___ RADIO HAM, PIRATE, SATELLITE, TALK
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
