NYT Connections game #690 is the puzzle dated May 1, 2025. Start with the gentle clues below, then open the spoiler section for the four answers and all 16 tiles. The solution is corroborated by three published answer guides; a primary NYT archive record for this puzzle was not located.
Hints for Connections #690
Try the clues in order and stop when you have enough to solve a group.
- Gentle hint: Think about what a champion might receive, something you might decide to quit, film-making, and miniature versions of everyday things.
- Category hints: One group is about winnings; one is about stopping a habit; one contains movie-camera verbs; and one contains words that pair with “-size” to mean small.
The 16 tiles
POCKET, SHAKE, PURSE, PAN, POT, DOLLY, FUN, PRIZE, TRAVEL, BREAK, BITE, KICK, ZOOM, DROP, REWARD, TILT.
Full solution for May 1, 2025
Spoilers below: These are the four groups and their shared connections.
#1 Best Overall
| Category | Tiles | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| WINNINGS | POT, PRIZE, PURSE, REWARD | Things received or won as a prize. |
| STOP, AS A HABIT | BREAK, DROP, KICK, SHAKE | Each can pair with “habit” in a phrase about quitting one. |
| MOVIE CAMERA VERBS | DOLLY, PAN, TILT, ZOOM | Camera movements used in filming. |
| WORDS THAT PRECEDE “-SIZE” TO MEAN SMALL | BITE, FUN, POCKET, TRAVEL | They form bite-size, fun-size, pocket-size, and travel-size. |
Why the wordplay can be tricky
Several tiles have familiar meanings that can distract from the intended connection. DOLLY, PAN, TILT, and ZOOM are verbs when used for camera movement. BITE, FUN, POCKET, and TRAVEL work as modifiers in compound phrases ending in “-size.”
How Connections works
Published guides describe Connections as a word-grouping puzzle: select four tiles that share a connection and submit the guess. The groups use four color-coded difficulty tiers, and players can make up to four mistakes. These mechanics are reported by answer guides rather than independently confirmed here against an NYT rules page.
Rank #2
Sources and date
TechRadar’s April 30, 2025 guide by Johnny Dee, with contributions from Marc McLaren, and Christine Mielke’s April 30, 2025 Try Hard Guides article list the tile bank and answers. Larry Slawson’s Parade guide, published May 1, 2025, independently gives the hints and groups.
Quick Recap
- TechRadar: NYT Connections hints and answers for May 1, 2025
- Try Hard Guides: NYT Connections answers
- Parade: Today’s Connections hints and answers for May 1, 2025
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