Need a nudge for NYT Connections on Sunday, February 23, 2025? This is puzzle #623. Start with the spoiler-free hints below, or skip to the solution when you’re ready to see all four groups.
Hints for Connections #623
These are editorially phrased nudges, not verbatim official hints. Each points toward a category without naming its four words.
- Look for actions that involve friction or rubbing.
- Think of ways to extend food’s shelf life.
- Consider toppings or additions commonly served at breakfast.
- Think of things that appear in expressions with “spill.”
Answers for Sunday, February 23, 2025
Spoilers below. The board’s sixteen words were PICKLE, GRATE, MILK, TEA, JAM, SCRAPE, CAN, BUTTER, GRIND, BEANS, SYRUP, FERMENT, FREEZE, GUTS, HOT SAUCE, and GNASH. The four groups were:
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | RUB TOGETHER | GNASH, GRATE, GRIND, SCRAPE |
| Green | WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD | CAN, FERMENT, FREEZE, PICKLE |
| Blue | BREAKFAST CONDIMENTS | BUTTER, HOT SAUCE, JAM, SYRUP |
| Purple | PROVERBIAL THINGS THAT ARE SPILLED | BEANS, GUTS, MILK, TEA |
Why the groups can be tricky
Food words appear in more than one way
Several entries invite tempting food-related associations. The green group is about preservation methods: canning, fermenting, freezing, and pickling. The blue group instead collects breakfast condiments. Sort by the relationship the category describes, not just by which words seem to belong in a kitchen.
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The purple group depends on an expression
BEANS, GUTS, MILK, and TEA are things people can “spill” in familiar expressions. The connection is idiomatic rather than a literal food category.
How NYT Connections works
Connections gives players sixteen words to sort into four groups of four that share a property. The categories use colors to indicate difficulty: yellow is the easiest and purple the trickiest. The New York Times Help Center says, “Each puzzle has exactly one solution and is meant to be tricky by having words that could fit into multiple categories.” A new game releases at midnight in the player’s timezone. NYT Help Center: Connections.
Rank #2
The Help Center says its Connections archive goes back to June 12, 2023, and is available to All Access and Games subscribers. Access terms can change; check the Help Center for current details.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Confirming the puzzle number
Date-specific guides from Parade and Yahoo identify February 23, 2025 as puzzle #623, and a separate date-indexed archive agrees. One search result labels the date #649, but that conflicts with those multiple date-matched references. The matching sources support #623 for this date.
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