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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11NYT Connections puzzle #714 is the edition from Sunday, May 25, 2025—not May 25, 2024, which was a different puzzle. Start with the graduated hints below if you want a nudge; the category names and full answer key are marked as spoilers.
How Connections works
Connections presents 16 words and asks you to sort them into four groups of four linked by a shared theme. The New York Times says each puzzle has one solution, but some words are deliberately chosen to seem plausible in more than one category. The category colors progress from yellow, the easiest, to purple, the trickiest. NYT’s Connections help page describes the game and its rules.
Graduated hints for puzzle #714
Stop at the level you need. These hints reveal no answer words.
- Yellow: Think poker.
- Green: Think of something that looks like another person or thing.
- Blue: These are places where studs and rings can go.
- Purple: Add a word that sounds like “fail.”
Spoilers: category names and answers
Warning: The categories and complete groups appear below.
Yellow — PLAYING CARDS
ACE, JACK, KING, QUEEN
Green — DOPPELGÄNGER
CLONE, DOUBLE, RINGER, TWIN
Blue — EAR PIERCING SITES
CONCH, HELIX, LOBE, ROOK
Purple — __ MAIL
CHAIN, ELECTRONIC, JUNK, SNAIL. Add “mail” after each word: chain mail, electronic mail, junk mail, and snail mail. “Snail” is the sound-alike answer to the hint “fail.”
Why the word set can mislead
Several words can tempt you toward a different connection: SNAIL, HELIX, CONCH, and LOBE can suggest curled shapes. The intended blue group instead names ear-piercing sites, while the purple group is formed by adding “mail.” NYT notes that words may appear to fit multiple categories even though each puzzle has one solution.
Rank #2
Playing the May 25, 2025 puzzle
Connections releases its daily puzzle at midnight in the player’s timezone, so “today” depends on when and where someone is playing. Puzzle #714 is a dated edition, not a current daily puzzle. The official game is available through the NYT Connections website, Games app, nytimes.com/theathletic, and News app; NYT says it is free across platforms without registration, though an account is recommended to keep progress across devices.
Can you play it in the archive?
According to the NYT Help Center’s current archive guidance, Games and All Access subscribers can play archived puzzles back to June 12, 2023. Archive play affects some statistics but not streaks, and a completed archive puzzle cannot be replayed. Subscriber features can change, so consult the official Connections help page for current access details. The same page says the Connections Bot offers personalized statistics to All Access, Home Delivery, and Games subscribers, including difficulty, ratings, category order, common mistakes, and a guess-by-guess breakdown.
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