Today’s NYT Connections #849 Answers and Hints for October 7, 2025

The New York Times’ daily word puzzle Connections returned on October 7, 2025, with a tricky set of categories that challenged even seasoned players. Today’s puzzle featured a mix of gossip, wedding-themed terms, team-related words, and a clever Broadway twist in the toughest group. Here’s a full breakdown of the hints and answers for puzzle #849.

Connections has quickly become one of the most popular NYT word games, following in the footsteps of Wordle and Spelling Bee. Each day, players must group 16 words into four sets of four based on hidden connections — ranging from obvious to highly creative.

Full Breakdown of NYT Connections #849

The October 7 puzzle opened with a relatively easy yellow group before ramping up the difficulty. Below is the complete solution set, along with the day’s hints and explanations.

Yellow Group – Gossip
Buzz, Dirt, Dish, Talk

Green Group – Seen at a Wedding
Altar, Bouquet, Cake, Ring

Blue Group – Team
Bunch, Crew, Group, Pack

Purple Group – Musicals Plus Starting Letter
Brent (Rent), Chair (Hair), Fannie (Annie), Scats (Cats)

The purple category stood out as the day’s toughest challenge. It required solvers to think beyond straightforward definitions and recognize that each word hid a famous Broadway musical when you removed its first letter.

Player Reactions and Puzzle Trends

Fans on social media described today’s puzzle as “tricky but fair,” especially because the purple category required lateral thinking rather than straightforward knowledge. Many noted that the yellow gossip set was an easy win, while the wedding-themed green group provided a nice mid-level challenge.

The NYT’s recent addition of the Connections Bot has also changed the experience for many players. It allows users to see their puzzle stats, streaks, and accuracy, similar to Wordle’s post-game analytics. The feature has been praised by the puzzle community for making the game more competitive and shareable.

If you were stuck today, you weren’t alone. The Broadway-themed purple group caused plenty of resets for players trying to avoid mistakes.

FYI (keeping you in the loop)-

Q1: What was the yellow group in NYT Connections #849?

The yellow group was Gossip, with the words Buzz, Dirt, Dish, and Talk.

Q2: Which category featured wedding-related words?

The green group had Altar, Bouquet, Cake, and Ring — all things seen at a wedding.

Q3: What made the purple group challenging today?

Each word hid the name of a Broadway musical if you dropped its first letter: Rent, Hair, Annie, Cats.

Q4: How does the Connections Bot help players?

It tracks your stats, win streaks, and puzzle completion rate, similar to Wordle’s analytics.

Q5: Is NYT Connections getting harder?

Some players think so, especially with creative purple groups. But the game remains fair and solvable with patience.

References

CNET. (2025). NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 7, #849. October 6, 2025.

New York Times. (2025). Connections game update introduces bot and player stats. October 2025.