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NYT Connections puzzle #868, for Sunday, October 26, 2025, groups words into instrument families, a famous Muhammad Ali quote, kinds of contests, and diminutive-sounding word endings. Spoiler-light hints come first; expand the answer sections below only if you want the full solution.
Spoiler-light hints for Connections #868
- Yellow: Think of broad categories of musical instruments.
- Green: Recall a famous line from a boxer.
- Blue: Each word can precede the same word for a kind of competition.
- Purple: Look at endings that can make a word sound small or diminutive.
Full answers for Sunday, October 26
Warning: the group names and word sets below reveal the solution.
Yellow — Kinds of instruments
BRASS, PERCUSSION, STRING, WIND are broad instrument families or classifications.
Green — Words in a Muhammad Ali quote
BEE, BUTTERFLY, FLOAT, STING complete the line, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Forbes reproduces the quote in its explanation.
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Blue — Kinds of contests
BEAUTY, POPULARITY, STARING, TALENT each form a familiar phrase when followed by “contest.”
Purple — Words with diminutive-sounding endings
DOGGY, DROPLET, KITCHENETTE, STARLING make up the word-form group, playing on endings associated with smallness or diminutives.
The red herring in the board
STARLING, STARING, STRING, and STING look similar enough to invite a tempting spelling-based grouping. The actual solution splits them across the purple, blue, yellow, and green groups respectively; the category links, rather than their visual resemblance, determine where they belong. Forbes notes the spelling misdirection in its solve explanation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How Connections works
Connections presents 16 words to sort into four groups of four. Each group has a color corresponding to its difficulty, and players can make up to four mistakes. The puzzle resets at midnight in the player’s local time. Business Insider outlines the game’s rules; TechRadar also describes the rules and daily reset.
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