Streak on the line? Here are clean, spoiler‑managed clues and the full solution for today’s NYT Connections, puzzle #872 for Thursday, October 30, 2025. If you still want to play first, launch the puzzle at the official NYT Games site: Connections.

Today’s board lands at a mid‑tier challenge. Testers rated it 3.3 out of 5 in difficulty. Spoilers appear below this line.

Hints for today’s categories (no direct spoilers)

  • Yellow: Affectionate nicknames you’d use for someone you love.
  • Green: Types of books you might say you enjoy.
  • Blue: Words for groups of birds in the plural.
  • Purple: Surnames of well‑known people whose first names are also U.S. cities.

One tile per category shown in the game’s hint reveal aligns with these themes: SUGAR (yellow), FANTASY (green), GAGGLE (blue), BLOOM (purple).

NYT Connections answers (Oct. 30, 2025 — #872)

Color Category Words
Yellow Terms of Endearment Angel, Love, Pumpkin, Sugar
Green Fiction Genres Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Romance
Blue Collective Nouns for Birds Charm, Gaggle, Murder, Parliament
Purple People Whose First Names Are U.S. Cities Bloom, Butler, Guthrie, Levy

Note: Purple’s trick is structural. Think of famous pairings where the first name is a U.S. city and the second name matches the tile: Orlando Bloom, Austin Butler, Savannah Guthrie, Eugene Levy.

Why these groups fit

  • Terms of Endearment: Everyday pet names used for a partner, family member, or friend.
  • Fiction Genres: Broad categories you might name when asked what you like to read.
  • Collective Nouns for Birds: Plural group names with a long tradition in English usage.
  • First names as U.S. cities: The surname tiles pair with celebrity first names that are also city names in the United States.

How Connections works (quick refresher)

  • Each puzzle has 16 words; your goal is to sort them into four correct groups of four.
  • Difficulty rises by color: yellow (easiest), green, blue, purple (hardest).
  • You can make a limited number of mistakes; the puzzle refreshes daily on a 24‑hour cycle.
  • When all four groups are solved, the game reveals the category titles.

That’s today’s wall. If you solved without spoilers, nice work. If the purple set held out to the end, you weren’t alone. Check back tomorrow for a fresh grid at the Connections page.