Working on today’s Connections wall or checking your solve? Here’s a clean breakdown of puzzle #873 for October 31, 2025, including spoiler-safe nudges and the full set of answers. If you want to play first, launch Connections on the New York Times Games site (it goes live at midnight in your time zone): nytimes.com/games/connections.

Today’s difficulty is rated 2.3 out of 5. Categories progress from Yellow (easiest) to Green, Blue, and Purple (trickiest).

Light hints for today’s categories (no spoilers)

  • Yellow: A classic fairy tale about a girl who tries things until one is “just right.”
  • Green: A rags-to-ball story powered by a little transformative magic.
  • Blue: A seafaring strongman whose power-up is a single leafy green.
  • Purple: The arcade icon that chomps pellets and fruit—this time, she’s the one with the bow.

Want a small nudge instead of full themes? One word from each group appears on the board: BED (Yellow), MOUSE (Green), PIPE (Blue), BOW (Purple).

NYT Connections #873 answers (by color and theme)

Color Theme Words
Yellow Goldilocks Bear, Bed, Chair, Porridge
Green Cinderella Mouse, Pumpkin, Slipper, Wand
Blue Popeye Anchor, Cap, Pipe, Spinach
Purple Ms. Pac-Man Bow, Cherries, Ghost, Pellets

Why these sets fit

Goldilocks (Yellow): The story centers on a girl in a bears’ home sampling items—beds, chairs, and porridge—until she finds what’s “just right.” “Bear, Bed, Chair, Porridge” are the core objects from that plot.

Cinderella (Green): The transformation ingredients are unmistakable: a “Pumpkin” into a carriage, “Mice” into footmen, the iconic “Slipper,” and the “Wand” that makes it all happen.

Popeye (Blue): The sailor’s visual kit—“Cap,” “Pipe,” “Anchor”—pairs with his trademark strength boost: “Spinach.”

Ms. Pac-Man (Purple): This entry mirrors arcade elements. The character sports a “Bow,” chases “Pellets,” gobbles “Cherries,” and dodges or hunts a “Ghost.”

Official difficulty and daily reveal words

Testers set today’s difficulty at 2.3/5. On the board, a single clue word surfaced per tier—Yellow: BED; Green: MOUSE; Blue: PIPE; Purple: BOW—matching the solved groups above.

If you’re still practicing, try isolating nouns with shared narrative worlds (fairy tales, cartoons, arcade classics) before tackling items that could plausibly overlap. Today’s trickiest decoys live in those overlaps—“Bow” reads like a hair accessory or something else entirely unless you anchor it to Ms. Pac-Man; “Cap” and “Pipe” only lock once Popeye’s full sailor set comes into view.