The September 23, 2025, NYT Connections puzzle is #835. Use the four clues below for a spoiler-light nudge, then open the solutions when you are ready to check the groups.
Hints for Connections #835
Each clue points to a category without listing its four tiles.
- A bright, upbeat mood.
- A well-known phrase about a baby and a buggy.
- Travel bags you might take to an airport.
- Names that appear in titles of 1980s films.
Full answers for September 23
Spoilers below. The full tile list is FERRIS, BUMPER, ROLLER, BRIGHT, HARD-SHELL, BOUNCY, RUBBER, DUFFEL, MERRY, PEE-WEE, BUGGY, CARRY-ON, HEATHER, BABY, SUNNY, and INDIANA.
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | CHEERFUL | BOUNCY, BRIGHT, MERRY, SUNNY |
| Green | “RUBBER BABY BUGGY BUMPER” | BABY, BUGGY, BUMPER, RUBBER |
| Blue | KINDS OF LUGGAGE | CARRY-ON, DUFFEL, HARD-SHELL, ROLLER |
| Purple | TITLE CHARACTERS IN ’80S MOVIES | FERRIS, HEATHER, INDIANA, PEE-WEE |
Why the groups fit
Yellow: cheerful
Bouncy, bright, merry, and sunny can all describe an upbeat mood.
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Green: “Rubber baby buggy bumper”
BABY, BUGGY, BUMPER, and RUBBER form the familiar tongue-twister phrase. Parade printed the phrase as “Rubber baby bugger bumper,” though its listed tiles include BUGGY; the answer label above follows the wording reported by TechRadar and AllThingsHow.
Blue: kinds of luggage
A carry-on, duffel, hard-shell case, and roller are all luggage types.
Rank #2
Purple: title characters in 1980s movies
FERRIS points to Ferris Bueller, HEATHER to Heathers, INDIANA to Indiana Jones, and PEE-WEE to Pee-wee Herman.
The tempting red herring
FERRIS, BUMPER, ROLLER, and MERRY may suggest a fairground or amusement park. That grouping does not hold: ROLLER belongs with luggage, while MERRY belongs with the cheerful words. Reconsidering those two tiles helps separate the genuine categories.
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How Connections works
In the 2025 guide describing this puzzle, Connections is a game in which players sort 16 words into four groups of four based on a shared property. That guide says the groups have different difficulty levels and allows up to four mistakes. It describes play on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile; it does not establish current subscription or archive rules.
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