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Need a gentle nudge first? Start with the clues below and stop before the answer section if you still want to solve it yourself.
About Connections #623
Connections asks you to arrange 16 words into four groups of four. Each group shares a common connection, but some words are deliberately chosen to fit more than one possible category.
This is the puzzle for February 23, 2025, rather than a separate puzzle dated February 23, 2026. Some guides reported the game as appearing on February 22 because the puzzle becomes available at midnight according to the player’s local time zone.
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The 16 words
Here is the complete grid:
- PICKLE
- GRATE
- MILK
- TEA
- JAM
- SCRAPE
- CAN
- BUTTER
- GRIND
- BEANS
- SYRUP
- FERMENT
- FREEZE
- GUTS
- HOT SAUCE
- GNASH
Hints for NYT Connections #623
Yellow group: Think about rubbing something against another surface—or crushing something with the teeth.
Green group: These are methods for keeping food usable for longer.
Blue group: These are toppings or additions commonly associated with the first meal of the day.
Purple group: These words can follow “spill” in familiar expressions involving secrets, honesty, or disorder.
One-word category clues
- Yellow: RUB TOGETHER
- Green: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD
- Blue: BREAKFAST CONDIMENTS
- Purple: PROVERBIAL THINGS THAT ARE SPILLED
Warning: answers below
Spoiler warning: The complete groups and explanations follow. Stop here if you are still solving.
NYT Connections #623 answers
Yellow: RUB TOGETHER
GNASH, GRATE, GRIND, SCRAPE
Grate, grind, and scrape directly suggest friction or abrasion. Gnash is the less obvious entry: to gnash means to grind or rub the teeth together. That makes it the word most likely to delay recognition of this group.
Rank #3
- COZY PUZZLE STRATEGY – Sort and arrange stacks of book tiles in different rooms of your apartment to complete personal projects, balancing limited space with smart planning for a satisfying puzzle experience.
- BEAUTIFUL COMPONENTS – Includes 130 illustrated book tiles with engraved spines, four apartment mats, tokens, and a village board that create an inviting, tactile tabletop experience for cozy gamers.
- EMOTIONAL AND RELATABLE THEME – Celebrate the joy of reading, collecting, and managing social energy through meaningful decisions that appeal to book lovers, introverts, and fans of warm thematic games.
- SOLO AND MULTIPLAYER OPTIONS – Play solo against an automated rival book collector or enjoy a competitive 2–4 player experience with light interaction and accessible strategy suitable for all skill levels.
- QUICK AND REPLAYABLE – Each session plays in 15–20 minutes per player, offering easy-to-learn yet rich gameplay that rewards planning and creativity, making it ideal for families and hobby gamers.
Green: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD
CAN, FERMENT, FREEZE, PICKLE
Food can be preserved by sealing it in a container, fermenting it, freezing it, or pickling it. In this group, CAN is being used as a verb—the preservation method—not as a noun meaning a container.
Blue: BREAKFAST CONDIMENTS
BUTTER, HOT SAUCE, JAM, SYRUP
These are toppings or condiments that can accompany breakfast foods. Jam is especially useful as a decoy because it also belongs naturally in a food-preservation context, while the grid contains several other edible words.
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Purple: PROVERBIAL THINGS THAT ARE SPILLED
BEANS, GUTS, MILK, TEA
Each word completes a familiar expression:
- Spill the beans: reveal secret information.
- Spill your guts: speak openly or reveal what you know.
- Don’t cry over spilled milk: there is little value in regretting something that cannot be changed.
- Spill the tea: share gossip or inside information.
Why this puzzle can be tricky
The grid uses food-related vocabulary to create its main misdirection. PICKLE, CAN, FERMENT, and FREEZE look like a coherent set only after “can” is read as an action. Meanwhile, BUTTER, HOT SAUCE, JAM, and SYRUP form a second food-related group based on breakfast use.
MILK and TEA may initially look like breakfast drinks, but they belong with BEANS and GUTS once you recognize the “spill” phrase pattern. The toughest yellow entry is probably GNASH; interpreting it as “grind the teeth” makes the physical-action group work.
The broader lesson is to test whether a suspected group is based on a precise relationship. Four things that are all foods may be a weaker candidate than four words that complete the same idiom or describe the same action.
Want more Connections puzzles?
If you prefer solving away from a screen, an official Connections puzzle book is a natural next option. The forthcoming hardcover Connections: Find the Common Threads in 100+ Puzzles of Wit and Wordplay is credited to New York Times Games and curated by Wyna Liu. Retailer information lists a release date of October 27, 2026, so check the current publication and stock details before ordering. There is no confirmation that it includes puzzle #623.
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What is the answer to NYT Connections #623 for February 23, 2025?
The groups are RUB TOGETHER: GNASH, GRATE, GRIND, SCRAPE; WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD: CAN, FERMENT, FREEZE, PICKLE; BREAKFAST CONDIMENTS: BUTTER, HOT SAUCE, JAM, SYRUP; and PROVERBIAL THINGS THAT ARE SPILLED: BEANS, GUTS, MILK, TEA.
Best Value
What is the purple category in Connections #623?
The purple category is PROVERBIAL THINGS THAT ARE SPILLED: BEANS, GUTS, MILK, and TEA.
Why is GNASH in the RUB TOGETHER group?
To gnash means to grind or rub the teeth together, which connects it to GRATE, GRIND, and SCRAPE.
When was NYT Connections #623 published?
It is dated Sunday, February 23, 2025. Some reports noted that it became available on February 22 because Connections refreshes at midnight according to the player’s local time zone.
The Bottom Line
The key to #623 is separating the two food-based groups, then spotting the idioms behind BEANS, GUTS, MILK, and TEA. Once GNASH is understood as grinding the teeth, the remaining action words complete the final group.
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