The May 23, 2025, NYT Connections board grouped four kinds of party, words for a person’s or thing’s constitution, British imperial weight units, and things described as a “cat’s eye.” If you want to solve it yourself first, start with the spoiler-free clues below; the exact categories and answers follow.
Hints for the May 23, 2025, Connections puzzle
Connections presents 16 words and asks players to sort them into four groups of four sharing a feature. The New York Times Help Center describes the game this way: “Players are given 16 words and must find groups of four items that share something in common.” Groups are color-coded from yellow, the easiest, to purple, the trickiest. The Times also notes that words can appear to fit more than one category, though each puzzle has one intended solution. NYT Help Center: Connections
- A boisterous social gathering.
- What a person or thing is made of.
- Older British measures of weight.
- Four different things that can be described as a “cat’s eye.”
May 23 Connections answers
Spoilers below: the full board contained STONE, FIBER, MARBLE, EYELINER, BLOWOUT, MAKEUP, POUND, BASH, NATURE, GLASSES, BLAST, DRAM, NEBULA, OUNCE, CHARACTER, and RAVE.
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Quite the party | BASH, BLAST, BLOWOUT, RAVE |
| Green | One’s constitution | CHARACTER, FIBER, MAKEUP, NATURE |
| Blue | British imperial units of weight | DRAM, OUNCE, POUND, STONE |
| Purple | What “cat’s eye” can be used to describe | EYELINER, GLASSES, MARBLE, NEBULA |
Why the categories can be easy to mix up
Beauty terms point in different directions
BLOWOUT, MAKEUP, and EYELINER can all suggest a beauty-related set. In the intended grouping, only MAKEUP belongs with CHARACTER, FIBER, and NATURE: each can describe what a person or thing is made of. BLOWOUT instead joins BASH, BLAST, and RAVE as a kind of party.
#1 Best Overall
- The game where _______ minds think alike!
- Prepare yourself for Blank Slate, a game of addicting predictions! How well can you put your finger on what everyone's thinking?
- Pick a Word Cue card, write the word you think best completes the phrase, and try to match it to anther player's word without giving a single hint
- Easy to learn, quick to play, and fun for the whole family; just grab a slate, write a word, and get ready to make a match. Great for large groups or small gatherings!
- Includes: Scoreboard, 8 dry-erase slates, 250 doubled-sided word cue cards, rules
“Cat’s eye” crosses several subjects
The purple group is a word-association set rather than a single everyday category: EYELINER and GLASSES can have a cat-eye shape or style; MARBLE refers to a cat’s-eye marble; and NEBULA points to the Cat’s Eye Nebula. That jump across makeup, eyewear, toys, and astronomy makes the group less obvious than the others.
Which puzzle number is this?
Forbes identifies the Friday, May 23, 2025, puzzle as game #712, and its date-specific report gives the board and solution. The Times of India reports the same date and grouping. Some search-result archives show #752, so the date and category labels are more reliable identifiers than a puzzle number without a source. Forbes’ May 22, 2025, coverage and The Times of India’s May 23, 2025, coverage give the date-specific answers.
Rank #2
- STRATEGIC THINKING: Elevate the fun with this game, where players strategically choose word combinations, making it perfect for party games for adults and family, enhancing both depth and complexity.
- MULTIPLAYER FUN: Engage in multiplayer entertainment with Subtext Showdown, perfect for game nights with 3 to 6 participants, promoting communication and creative thinking in the realm of adult games for game night.
- POINTS OF PRECISION: Accumulate points by adeptly deducing associations or demonstrating telepathic synchronicity, ensuring a gratifying experience for effective communication and intuitive connections in adult board games.
- RACE AGAINST TIME: With a ticking clock, players must think quickly and make their associations before time runs out, adding an exciting element of urgency to the game.
- EXCITING PERFECT GIFT: Combine phrases from the 16 cards to form associations that friends can decode, providing an exhilarating challenge in teen-friendly card games, perfect gift for any occasion.
Where to play and find the archive
The NYT Help Center says the daily puzzle releases at midnight in the player’s timezone and is available through the Games app, NYTimes.com/games/connections, and the News app. It says the archive reaches back to June 12, 2023, with archive access for All Access and Games subscribers. Availability and subscription terms can change; check the Help Center for current access details. NYT Help Center: Connections
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- UNIQUE COOPERATIVE WORD GAME: Write one clue connecting two keywords on each clover leaf. Teammates guess which keyword pair each clue links in this inventive, laugh-out-loud word association game
- CREATIVE PARTY GAME FOR ADULTS: So Clover! challenges players to make unexpected word connections. The more creative your clues, the higher your team scores in this hilarious adult party game
- GREAT FOR WORD GAME FANS: So Clover! takes cooperative word games to the next level with a unique multi-clue clover structure that delivers fresh, surprising, and satisfying creative connections
- FAST, FUN & SOCIAL: Plays in under 30 minutes with 3-6 players ages 10 and up. So Clover! is quick to setup, with no filler, just pure creative energy and highly collaborative family fun from the very first round
- IDEAL GIFT FOR ADULTS & FAMILIES: So Clover! is the party game gift for anyone who loves wordplay and creative thinking. Easy to teach in minutes, endlessly engaging at any family game night
Rank #3
- Two teams race to identify their agents from a 5×5 grid, guided by a spymaster who knows each card’s identity
- Spymasters give one-word clues and a number to link multiple cards, encouraging creative thinking
- Teammates guess words matching the clue while avoiding the other team’s agents, bystanders, and the assassin
- Revealing the assassin ends the game instantly, adding high-stakes tension
- Teams may guess up to the clue number plus one, allowing strategic risks or revisiting old clues
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