Stuck on today’s Connections? Here are spoiler-light nudges followed by the full categories and solutions for puzzle #822 (Wednesday, September 10, 2025). The board features a classic misdirection with a pair of similar exclamations and a pop-culture set centered on a single performer. As always, difficulty moves from yellow (easiest) to green, blue, and purple (hardest).

Spoiler-light category hints

  • Yellow: A scold you might hear after a bad choice.
  • Green: Verbs for moving fast.
  • Blue: Roles tied to one well-known comedian.
  • Purple: Common “King ____” pairings.

Today’s categories

  • Yellow: “You should know better!”
  • Green: Move quickly
  • Blue: Eddie Murphy roles
  • Purple: King ____

Full solutions (spoilers)

  • “You should know better!”: BAD, SHAME, TSK, TUT TUT
  • Move quickly: BARREL, FLY, RACE, ZIP
  • Eddie Murphy roles: AKEEM, DOLITTLE, DONKEY, FOLEY
  • King ____: CAKE, COBRA, KONG, TUT

Why these groupings work

Yellow stacks brief admonitions and interjections. Note that TUT TUT is the disapproving utterance here, while the standalone TUT shows up in the purple set as part of King Tut.

Green uses BARREL in the verb sense (to barrel along), which is easy to miss if you’re thinking of the noun. The rest are straightforward motion verbs.

Blue clusters roles associated with Eddie Murphy: Prince AKEEM (Coming to America), Dr. DOLITTLE, DONKEY (Shrek), and Axel FOLEY (Beverly Hills Cop).

Purple completes “King ____”: CAKE (Mardi Gras dessert), COBRA (snake), KONG, and TUT.

Common traps on this board

  • TUT vs. TUT TUT: they belong to different categories today; don’t bundle them together.
  • BARREL looks like a noun at first glance; read it as a verb to see the speed grouping.
  • DOLITTLE is a character name, not a general verb or adjective here.

Quick strategy refresh

  • Scan for obvious verb clusters first; movement sets often anchor the board.
  • Pit similar-looking items against each other to expose a split (e.g., tut vs. tut tut).
  • When a name appears, test whether it forms a consistent set (actor roles, titles, or franchise links).
  • Shuffle the tiles to break visual ruts; it helps surface overlooked pairings.

Ready to try it yourself or share results? Play today’s board in the NYT Games experience via the Connections page linked above.