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Here are graduated hints for the New York Times Connections puzzle for April 21, 2025, game #680. The date is year-specific: April 21, 2026 was a different puzzle. Start with the clues below and stop before the spoiler warning if you want to solve it yourself.
Hints for Connections #680
Connections asks you to sort 16 words into four groups of four, each linked by a shared theme. The groups are color-coded by difficulty, from yellow (easiest) to purple (trickiest). Because words can appear to fit more than one category, look for a clean pattern across all four words before submitting a group.
Yellow hint
Look at information commonly printed on packaged food.
Green hint
These words can describe an abrupt or surprising event.
#1 Best Overall
Blue hint
Think of the elements found in spreadsheet software.
Purple hint
Each word can describe or form a spiral-like shape.
Rank #2
Spoiler warning: full answers below
The category titles and word groups below reveal the complete solution. TechRadar reports these answers for the April 21, 2025 puzzle; the specific historical answer grid is not independently confirmed here by an NYT answer record.
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | INFO ON A NUTRITION LABEL | CALORIES, CARBS, SODIUM, SERVING |
| Green | METAPHOR FOR SOMETHING UNEXPECTED | BOLT, CURVEBALL, SHOCK, SURPRISE |
| Blue | THINGS YOU CAN INSERT INTO A SPREADSHEET | CELL, FORMULA, ROW, SHEET |
| Purple | HELICAL THINGS | FUSILLI, HELIX, SPIRAL, SPRING |
How the daily puzzle works
The New York Times describes Connections as a daily game in which players find four sets of four related words. Each puzzle has one intended solution, and apparent overlaps are part of the challenge. The game releases at midnight in the player’s timezone, so people on opposite sides of a timezone boundary may be referring to different daily puzzles. NYT lists Connections as free to play across its platforms. Its Help Center says the archive, which dates back to June 12, 2023, is available to All Access and Games subscribers; check the current help page for up-to-date access details.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Sources: TechRadar’s April 21, 2025 Connections guide for the reported answer grid; The New York Times Help Center: Connections for game mechanics and archive information. A separate ComingSoon guide for April 21, 2026 confirms that the same month and day in a different year refers to another puzzle.
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