The daily New York Times Connections puzzle challenged players on October 25, 2025. Puzzle #867 featured a difficult grid of 16 words. Many players struggled to find the four hidden categories.
The puzzle's deceptive word associations required careful thought. According to The New York Times, the game tests vocabulary and lateral thinking.
The answers for October 25 are now confirmed. The yellow category, deemed easiest, was "SWINDLE." It included the words FLEECE, HOSE, HUSTLE, and SHAFT.
The green category was "DIGITAL WATCH FEATURES." This group contained ALARM, DATE, LIGHT, and STOPWATCH. The blue category, "CONFER," was harder to spot with words like ACCORD, AWARD, GRANT, and VEST.
The most difficult purple category was "BEST ACTOR-WINNING BIOPICS." This final group featured CAPOTE, LINCOLN, MILK, and RAY. These words reference films where actors won Oscars for portraying real people.
This category tripped up many solvers. It required specific knowledge of award-winning films and their titles.