This is the archived answer guide for NYT Connections puzzle #841, dated Monday, September 29, 2025—not a guide to the live puzzle. The puzzle asks players to sort 16 words into four groups of four. If you want a nudge before seeing the answers, start with the category clues below.
Hints for Connections #841
Each clue points to a relationship shared by four of the words. The groups move from a familiar clothing category to a practical-joke expression, then a household fixture and a music-history connection.
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- Think of four styles of undergarment.
- Find four words that can describe playing a joke on someone.
- Look for four components inside a toilet tank.
- Identify four opening words from 1970s rock-song titles.
Answers for September 29, 2025
Spoilers below: these are the four completed groups.
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Kinds of underwear | BOXER, BRIEF, HIPSTER, THONG |
| Green | Play a joke on | FOOL, PRANK, PUNK, TRICK |
| Blue | Parts of a toilet tank | CHAIN, FLAPPER, FLOAT, HANDLE |
| Purple | First words in ’70s rock-song titles | BABA, BOHEMIAN, HOTEL, STAIRWAY |
Why the categories can be easy to miss
Some words shift meaning by context
FOOL, PUNK, and TRICK can look like nouns, while the category asks for ways to play a joke on someone. Reading them as verbs helps reveal the set: FOOL, PRANK, PUNK, and TRICK.
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The music group depends on recognizing titles
BABA, BOHEMIAN, HOTEL, and STAIRWAY are the opening words in 1970s rock-song titles. Unlike the literal clothing and toilet-hardware groups, this connection draws on familiarity with song titles; that is an observation about the category, not a published difficulty score.
What “today” means on an archived puzzle page
Connections puzzles appear at midnight according to time zone, so “today” can refer to different puzzles in different locations. This page fixes the date as September 29, 2025, to identify the archived game clearly. The dated guides reviewed for puzzle #841 do not establish a verified numerical difficulty rating.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How Connections works
Players group 16 terms into four sets of four related words. A 2024 study by Angel Yahir Loredo Lopez, Tyler McDonald, and Ali Emami described that task in those terms and evaluated six language models alongside human participants using a benchmark corpus of 358 puzzles collected through June 3, 2024. Those figures describe the study’s scope; they are not scores or difficulty data for puzzle #841, nor a general measure of current AI capability.
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