Need a nudge for the Thursday, October 9, 2025, NYT Connections puzzle? Puzzle #851 has groups about made-up things, rocks, news article features, and figures from classic video games. The hints below start gently; the full groupings are farther down.
Hints for Connections #851
These clues move from least to most revealing. Pause after each one if you want to solve the groups yourself.
- Made up.
- Agate is one.
- Journalism-related items.
- Think Pac-Man or Donkey Kong.
Answers for Thursday, October 9, 2025
Spoilers below: the four complete groups are listed here.
Yellow: Fantasy
- FANCY
- FICTION
- FIGMENT
- INVENTION
Green: Kinds of rocks
- FLINT
- LIMESTONE
- MARBLE
- SLATE
Blue: News article features
- CAPTION
- DATELINE
- LEDE
- PHOTO
Purple: Title figures in classic video games
- GORILLA
- HEDGEHOG
- PLUMBER
- PRINCESS
How the clues point to the groups
- “Made up” suggests fantasy, which collects FANCY, FICTION, FIGMENT, and INVENTION.
- Agate is a kind of rock, pointing to FLINT, LIMESTONE, MARBLE, and SLATE.
- The journalism clue signals parts or features of a news article, including the spelling LEDE.
- Pac-Man and Donkey Kong evoke classic game characters; the group is GORILLA, HEDGEHOG, PLUMBER, and PRINCESS.
The answers and puzzle number are reported by Parade and independently corroborated by the NYT Connections & Wordle answer page.
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