NYT Connections Hints Today: Answers & Clues for August 26, 2025

Another day, another grid of 16 seemingly random words taunting you from the screen. If today’s NYT Connections answers are just out of reach, you’re not alone. This popular word association game from The New York Times is designed to challenge your brain with clever misdirections and tricky categories. For those stuck on puzzle #807 from August 26, 2025, the solution and strategic hints are detailed below to help you learn and improve for tomorrow’s challenge.

Understanding Today’s NYT Connections Puzzle

The New York Times launched Connections as a spiritual successor to the viral hit Wordle. It presents players with a 4×4 grid of words that must be grouped into four secret categories. The challenge lies in discovering the common thread that links each set of four words, with the categories color-coded from easiest (Yellow) to most difficult (Purple). Players have only four attempts to correctly sort all 16 words, making every guess count. The game is freely accessible on both desktop and mobile devices, offering a daily dose of mental gymnastics for puzzle enthusiasts everywhere.

A Guide To Solving Today’s Connections

For those who prefer a nudge rather than the full reveal, here are the thematic hints for each color-coded category in today’s puzzle. The Yellow category, typically the simplest, relates to physical marks. The Green group, a step up in difficulty, collects words that mean scoundrels. The more challenging Blue category is a verb group meaning to bother someone. Finally, the notorious Purple category, designed to be the most obscure, points to things you would find in IKEA.

Spoiler Warning: The full category names and answers for the August 26 NYT Connections puzzle are listed below.

The complete solution for today’s game is as follows:

• Yellow: DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS – MOLE, PIERCING, SCAR, TATTOO
• Green: A REAL JERK – CREEP, HEEL, RAT, SKUNK
• Blue: PESTER – BADGER, BUG, HARRY, RIDE
• Purple: WORDS BEFORE “STOOL” – BAR, FOOT, STEP, TOAD

Difficulty Analysis and Player Experience

Based on a firsthand playthrough, today’s puzzle merits a solid 3.5 out of 5 on the difficulty scale. The challenge wasn’t due to an overly complex vocabulary but rather the clever placement of red herrings. The Yellow category’s words, for instance, can easily be mistaken for other themes, potentially costing valuable attempts early on. The Blue category requires familiarity with North American English verbs, where “badger” and “ride” are commonly used to mean pestering someone. The Purple category was particularly devious, with “Toad” acting as a major stumbling block that only makes sense when paired with “stool” to form “toadstool,” a common IKEA product name, rather than a piece of furniture.

Mastering the NYT Connections puzzle requires a blend of broad knowledge, flexible thinking, and strategic guessing. Remember to use the shuffle button to break the grid’s initial misleading order and always double-check your groupings before submitting. Whether you solved it flawlessly or needed a hint, a new puzzle awaits tomorrow, ready to test your wits all over again.

Must Know

What are the hints for today’s NYT Connections?
The category hints for the August 26 puzzle are Yellow: Physical marks, Green: Scoundrels, Blue: To bother someone, and Purple: Things you would find in IKEA.

What are the full categories for today’s Connections game?
The answers are Yellow: Distinguishing Characteristics, Green: A Real Jerk, Blue: Pester, and Purple: Words Before “Stool”.

What does “One Away” mean in Connections?
The “One Away” message appears when you have correctly grouped three of the four words needed for a category. It signals that you are very close but that one word in your current selection is incorrect.

How can I play previous NYT Connections puzzles?
You can access and play archives of past Connections games directly through The New York Times Games website, allowing you to practice and enjoy previous puzzles.

What do the different colors represent in Connections?
The four colors—yellow, green, blue, and purple—represent a gradient of difficulty. Yellow is the easiest category to identify, while purple is designed to be the most challenging and often involves wordplay or cultural knowledge.