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Correction: NYT Connections #814 was the puzzle for Tuesday, September 2, 2025. The September 1 puzzle was #813. Some early coverage was published on September 1 in the United States while labeling the game as the Tuesday, September 2 puzzle, which likely caused the date mismatch in headlines. This page focuses on #814.
Below, the hints progress from subtle to revealing. Stop before the answer section if you still want to solve the grid yourself.
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How to play NYT Connections
Connections gives you 16 words and asks you to divide them into four groups of four. Each group has a shared connection, and every word belongs to one group. The categories are color-coded by approximate difficulty: yellow is generally the most straightforward, followed by green, blue, and purple. The puzzle is designed to include misleading overlaps, so a word that appears to fit one group may belong somewhere else.
The daily game becomes available at midnight in your local time zone. The New York Times Games help information explains the basic format and availability.
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Hints for Connections #814
Try these in order. The first set identifies the general idea without giving away the four words; the second set is more direct.
Group hints
- Yellow: Words connected with swearing or offensive language.
- Green: Words found in the famous Christmas poem often called “A Visit From St. Nicholas.”
- Blue: Parts of the outfit associated with the 1990s Earring Magic Ken doll.
- Purple: Words whose beginnings can be split into possessive determiners such as “her,” “his,” “my,” and “our.”
One-word clues
- Yellow: FOUR-LETTER WORDS
- Green: MOUSE
- Blue: MESH SHIRT
- Purple: MYSTERY
Spoiler warning: The complete groups and explanations are below.
Connections #814 answers
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Curses | EXPLETIVES, FOUR-LETTER WORDS, PROFANITY, SWEARING |
| Green | In “A Visit From St. Nicholas” | CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, MOUSE, STIRRING |
| Blue | Worn by Earring Magic Ken | EARRING, MESH SHIRT, NECKLACE, PLEATHER VEST |
| Purple | Starting with possessive determiners | HERRING, HISTAMINE, MYSTERY, OUROBOROS |
Yellow: Curses
The yellow group is EXPLETIVES, FOUR-LETTER WORDS, PROFANITY, and SWEARING. All four refer to taboo, vulgar, or offensive language.
FOUR-LETTER WORDS is the trap. Read literally, the phrase could describe almost any group of words with four letters. In this puzzle, it uses the familiar idiomatic meaning: profane language.
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Green: In “A Visit From St. Nicholas”
The green answers are CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, MOUSE, and STIRRING. They come from the setting and opening lines of Clement Clarke Moore’s well-known Christmas poem, including the familiar image of a quiet house and “not a creature” stirring—not even a mouse.
This is narrower than “Christmas words.” The intended connection is the appearance or association of these words with the poem commonly known as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The published answer explanation identifies the group as words from A Visit From St. Nicholas. Read the reported category breakdown.
Blue: Worn by Earring Magic Ken
The blue group is EARRING, MESH SHIRT, NECKLACE, and PLEATHER VEST. These are the recognizable elements of Earring Magic Ken’s outfit—not simply a collection of general clothing terms.
Mattel introduced Earring Magic Ken in 1993. Descriptions of the doll’s distinctive look identify an earring, lavender mesh shirt, purple pleather vest, and necklace. That cultural reference makes this category difficult: on their own, EARRING, NECKLACE, MESH SHIRT, and PLEATHER VEST all look like ordinary apparel clues, and several could easily tempt you into a generic clothing group. For background, see the Earring Magic Ken overview.
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Purple: Starting with possessive determiners
The purple answers are HERRING, HISTAMINE, MYSTERY, and OUROBOROS. This is the puzzle’s most playful and least conventional category.
The mechanism is a word beginning that can be read as a possessive determiner:
- HER + RING = HERRING
- HIS + TAMINE = HISTAMINE
- MY + STERY = MYSTERY
- OUR + OBOROS = OUROBOROS
In other words, the entries do not share a normal subject such as animals, chemicals, or mythical symbols. Their connection comes from the way their opening letters can be parsed as HER, HIS, MY, and OUR. That grammatical wordplay is why the category is harder to recognize than the yellow, green, and blue groups.
Why #814 is tricky
This grid combines four different kinds of knowledge. Yellow is a broad language category; green depends on recognizing a literary reference; blue requires familiarity with a specific pop-culture fashion look; and purple is based on a visual or grammatical split inside the words rather than their meanings.
The most dangerous false path is the blue group. EARRING, NECKLACE, MESH SHIRT, and PLEATHER VEST clearly look like clothing, but that description is too broad to be the intended answer. The green words can create a similar problem because CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, MOUSE, and STIRRING may initially seem like loosely related seasonal vocabulary. Look for the exact poem reference instead.
A practical solving order is to secure yellow if the language terms stand out, then test whether the apparent Christmas words point specifically to the poem. Once four apparel terms remain, the unusual Earring Magic Ken reference explains why they were selected. The four remaining words reveal the purple word-splitting device.
Want more Connections puzzles?
If you enjoy the daily grid, an official Connections puzzle book is a natural way to keep solving away from the screen. It is especially useful for readers who want more New York Times-style Connections puzzles in a physical format.
If you meant the September 1 puzzle
The September 1, 2025 game was Connections #813, not #814. Its four categories were:
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- Figures celebrated with holidays: MOTHER, PRESIDENT, SAINT PATRICK, SAINT VALENTINE
- Famous poets: AUDEN, FROST, LORDE, POE
- Meanings of “cardinal”: BIRD, COLOR, SIN, NUMBER
The date-number correction is also reflected in contemporaneous reporting: the September 1 coverage identifies #813, while the September 2 game is identified as #814. See the reported #813 categories.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was NYT Connections #814 played on September 1 or September 2, 2025?
Connections #814 was the September 2, 2025 puzzle. The September 1 puzzle was #813. The mismatch likely came from an article published on September 1 that covered the next day’s game.
What is the hardest category in Connections #814?
The purple category, “starting with possessive determiners,” is the least conventional. HERRING, HISTAMINE, MYSTERY, and OUROBOROS begin with letter sequences that can be split as HER, HIS, MY, and OUR.
What is Earring Magic Ken?
Earring Magic Ken is a Mattel Ken doll introduced in 1993. Its recognizable outfit included an earring, a lavender mesh shirt, a purple pleather vest, and a necklace—the four answers in the blue group.
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NYT Connections #814 is the September 2, 2025 puzzle, not the September 1 game. Its groups are curses; words in A Visit From St. Nicholas; items worn by Earring Magic Ken; and words beginning with possessive-determiner fragments.
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