NYT Connections hints and answers (Sep 26, 2025) — game #838
NYT ConnectionsAll 16 words, gentle clues, and the full solution for today’s puzzle.
Need a nudge to keep your streak alive? Today’s Connections puzzle (game #838) is solvable with a couple of clean deductions. If you’re new: Connections presents a 4x4 grid of words; your job is to group them into four sets of four that share a theme. You get three mistakes before it locks you out on the fourth, and a new puzzle goes live at midnight local time each day.
NYT Connections (Sep 26): today’s 16 words
| BLONDE | SUN | WORD | PALE |
| DIM | CREAM | BROWN | RICE |
| BLACK | LIGHT | FAINT | BEAT |
| WHISK | POLAR | POOL | WHIP |
Tip: watch out for red herrings. Several words here can plausibly belong to more than one theme until you see the tighter fit.
Category hints (no spoilers)
| Group color | Category vibe | Gentle nudge |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Kitchen actions | Think vigorous mixing verbs you see in recipes and cooking shows. |
| Green | Barely perceptible | Words you’d use when something is hard to see or make out. |
| Blue | Animal types | Four species share a very familiar mascot—one that also shows up on honey bottles. |
| Purple | Fill‑in‑the‑blank phrase | Each word completes “Dirty ____” to make a common expression. |
Spoilers: today’s categories and answers
Final warning: the full solution is below.
| Group color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Stir vigorously | BEAT, CREAM, WHIP, WHISK |
| Green | Hard to make out | DIM, FAINT, LIGHT, PALE |
| Blue | Kinds of bears | BLACK, BROWN, POLAR, SUN |
| Purple | “Dirty ___” phrases | BLONDE, POOL, RICE, WORD |
Why these fit: the kitchen verbs all describe energetic mixing. The “hard to see” set leans on gradations of faintness. The animal group is four well‑known bear species. And the last set completes idiomatic phrases like “dirty blonde,” “dirty pool,” “dirty rice,” and “dirty word.”
Play today’s puzzle
You can play Connections in a browser or in the NYT Games app. The daily grid is available on the New York Times Games site at nytimes.com/games/connections.
If you’re chasing a cleaner board, start by separating the obvious action verbs from the look‑alike “faintness” adjectives, then confirm the animal group. That usually leaves the wordplay set to fall into place by elimination.
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