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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Spoiler warning: The NYT Connections hints and answers for February 28, 2025, are for game #628. The groups are BE INDECISIVE, LUCIDITY, LOVELY PERSON, and irreversible-action metaphors; the full answers are HESITATE, WAFFLE, WAVER, YO-YO, MARBLES, MIND, SENSE, WITS, ANGEL, DEAR, DOLL, PEACH, BELL, EGG, GENIE, and TOOTHPASTE.
This answer guide covers Friday, February 28, 2025, rather than the separate February 28, 2026 puzzle. Hints come before category labels and complete groups so readers can choose how much help they want.
Key takeaways
- Connections #628 was the Friday, February 28, 2025 puzzle, not the separate February 28, 2026 puzzle.
- The yellow category is BE INDECISIVE: HESITATE, WAFFLE, WAVER, and YO-YO.
- The green category is LUCIDITY: MARBLES, MIND, SENSE, and WITS.
- The blue category is LOVELY PERSON: ANGEL, DEAR, DOLL, and PEACH.
- The purple category uses words from familiar metaphors for irreversible actions: BELL, EGG, GENIE, and TOOTHPASTE.
Hints for Connections #628
Try the hints below in order. The first hint for each group is broad, while the later explanation gives away more of the connection without immediately listing every answer.
Yellow hint
Look for words that describe someone who cannot settle on a choice. The connection concerns indecision, including changing back and forth between alternatives.
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Green hint
These words can appear in expressions about mental clarity, sound judgment, or soundness of mind.
Blue hint
Think of affectionate names for a lovable, attractive, or kind person. Some of these words can also be ordinary nouns.
Purple hint
These words are parts of familiar expressions about actions that cannot be reversed. The category is not simply “things you break” or “things you put back”; each entry belongs to a larger idiom or metaphor about irreversibility.
What are the Connections answers for February 28, 2025?
The answers for NYT Connections #628, played on Friday, February 28, 2025, are shown below. The game number and date are also identified in TechRadar’s guide to Connections #628.
| Color | Category | Answers | How the connection works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow | BE INDECISIVE | HESITATE, WAFFLE, WAVER, YO-YO | The first three directly describe indecision; “yo-yo” can describe moving back and forth between positions or choices. |
| Green | LUCIDITY | MARBLES, MIND, SENSE, WITS | Each appears in an expression about mental clarity or soundness, such as having one’s marbles, mind, sense, or wits. |
| Blue | LOVELY PERSON | ANGEL, DEAR, DOLL, PEACH | Each can be used affectionately for a lovely, lovable, kind, or attractive person. |
| Purple | COMPONENTS OF METAPHORS FOR THINGS THAT CAN’T BE UNDONE | BELL, EGG, GENIE, TOOTHPASTE | These complete or evoke expressions about irreversible actions: ringing a bell, breaking an egg, putting the genie back in the bottle, and putting toothpaste back in the tube. |
How do you solve the four groups?
The cleanest route through Connections #628 is to start with the affectionate terms, then identify the mental-clarity cluster, recognize the unusual purple idiom group, and leave the direct indecision words for last. That order reduces the risk of treating a broad word as a misleading near-match.
Blue: LOVELY PERSON
ANGEL, DEAR, DOLL, PEACH form the blue group. These are familiar affectionate terms for a person. “Angel” can describe someone exceptionally kind, “dear” works as a term of affection, and “doll” and “peach” can describe a lovable or appealing person. Their ordinary noun meanings make the group slightly less obvious than a set of direct synonyms.
Green: LUCIDITY
MARBLES, MIND, SENSE, WITS form the green group. The words connect through expressions about mental clarity: someone may have their “marbles,” “mind,” “sense,” or “wits.” The category is about the state of being mentally clear or sound rather than about four identical synonyms.
The green group is easier to see after the blue terms have been removed, because DEAR, DOLL, and PEACH might otherwise look like general nouns rather than names for people. The group’s phrase-based structure is documented in Yahoo Entertainment’s February 28 Connections answer guide.
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Purple: COMPONENTS OF METAPHORS FOR THINGS THAT CAN’T BE UNDONE
BELL, EGG, GENIE, TOOTHPASTE form the purple group. Each word points to a familiar expression describing an irreversible action:
- Bell: once you ring a bell, you cannot “unring” it.
- Egg: after you break or crack an egg, you cannot return it to its original state.
- Genie: once the genie is out of the bottle, putting it back represents an impossible reversal.
- Toothpaste: once toothpaste is out of the tube, putting it back is a familiar image of something that cannot be undone.
The purple category is the hardest group to recognize because the four words do not share one simple literal definition. The solver has to mentally supply a longer expression. Parade’s answer guide likewise explains the group through these irreversible-action metaphors.
Yellow: BE INDECISIVE
HESITATE, WAFFLE, WAVER, YO-YO are the remaining four words and form the yellow group. “Hesitate,” “waffle,” and “waver” are direct ways to describe failing to make or maintain a decision. “Yo-yo” is the less conventional entry: used as a verb, it describes moving back and forth between positions or choices.
This group is deliberately vulnerable to part-of-speech misdirection. The first three words are familiar indecision verbs, while YO-YO is most commonly recognized as a noun. Treating YO-YO as a verb is the key that makes the final group work.
Why is the purple category so difficult?
The purple group is difficult because its entries are not linked by a short, literal synonym. BELL, EGG, GENIE, and TOOTHPASTE become a group only when the solver supplies the larger ideas “you cannot undo what has happened” or “you cannot put something back after it has been released or changed.”
The grid also creates several plausible distractions. EGG and BELL can be associated with things that are broken or rung, while GENIE and TOOTHPASTE do not naturally look like members of the same word group. The category’s long wording signals that the intended connection is metaphorical and expression-based.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is the complete Connections #628 word list?
The complete sixteen-word grid for Friday, February 28, 2025, is:
ANGEL, BELL, DEAR, DOLL, EGG, GENIE, HESITATE, MARBLES, MIND, PEACH, SENSE, TOOTHPASTE, WAVER, WITS, WAFFLE, YO-YO.
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Each word belongs to exactly one of the four groups. The full group breakdown is also listed in the published Yahoo Entertainment solution.
Was this the February 28, 2026 Connections puzzle?
No. This article covers Friday, February 28, 2025, Connections game #628. February 28, 2026 was a different date and had a different puzzle, so searching only by the month and day can lead to the wrong answer guide.
Which group should you try first?
Start with the blue group if all sixteen words are still on the board. ANGEL, DEAR, DOLL, and PEACH are recognizable affectionate terms, although their ordinary meanings can hide the connection. Next, look for MARBLES, MIND, SENSE, and WITS as mental-clarity expressions.
After those eight words are removed, examine BELL, EGG, GENIE, and TOOTHPASTE as parts of “cannot undo” metaphors. HESITATE, WAFFLE, WAVER, and YO-YO then remain as the indecision group. If you are solving without spoilers, stop before the answer table and use only the graduated hints.
The Bottom Line
Connections #628, the February 28, 2025 puzzle, groups the words into indecision, mental clarity, affectionate names for a lovely person, and irreversible-action metaphors. The purple group is the main obstacle because its connection depends on completing familiar expressions rather than matching literal definitions.
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