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Thursday, October 9, 2025, is NYT Connections game #851. The 16 words are below, followed by progressively stronger hints and the complete answer board. Stop before the spoiler sections if you want to solve it yourself.
The 16 words in Connections #851
Here is the board for October 9, 2025:
LIMESTONE, GORILLA, PHOTO, FIGMENT, FANCY, DATELINE, PLUMBER, SLATE, FICTION, PRINCESS, FLINT, CAPTION, MARBLE, LEDE, HEDGEHOG, INVENTION.
In Connections, players sort 16 words into four groups of four based on a shared connection. The New York Times says the daily puzzle releases at midnight in the player’s local timezone. See the official Connections page.
Hints for October 9
These clues move from broad nudges toward the category themes. The group colors follow the game’s usual order from yellow, the easiest category, to purple, the trickiest; that describes the general format, not a measured difficulty rating for this board.
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- Yellow: Something you have “flights of…”
- Green: Composed of one or more minerals.
- Blue: As seen in a newspaper.
- Purple: Nintendo/Sega characters.
Spoilers: category names
Stop here if you only wanted hints. The four categories are:
- Yellow: FANTASY
- Green: KINDS OF ROCKS
- Blue: NEWS ARTICLE FEATURES
- Purple: TITLE FIGURES IN CLASSIC VIDEO GAMES
Full Connections #851 answers
The complete groups for October 9, 2025:
- Yellow — FANTASY: FANCY, FICTION, FIGMENT, INVENTION
- Green — KINDS OF ROCKS: FLINT, LIMESTONE, MARBLE, SLATE
- Blue — NEWS ARTICLE FEATURES: CAPTION, DATELINE, LEDE, PHOTO
- Purple — TITLE FIGURES IN CLASSIC VIDEO GAMES: GORILLA, HEDGEHOG, PLUMBER, PRINCESS
The archive is the route to replaying an older board: The Times says Connections is free to play, while its archive dating back to June 12, 2023 is available to All Access and Games subscribers. Archive play does not count toward current or maximum streaks. Check the NYT Help Center for Connections access and archive details.
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