Spoiler warning: This page contains the hints and complete answers for the NYT Connections puzzle published on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. It was puzzle #815. If you are looking for the current daily game, this is an archived solution—not the Connections puzzle for today.
Need a nudge first? The four groups involve beginnings, joining things together, familiar 1980s TV and pop-culture abbreviations, and words that become phrases when preceded by “May”.
Hints for Connections #815 on September 3, 2025
Connections gives you 16 words and asks you to divide them into four groups of four. The categories can overlap, so the safest approach is to begin with the most precise relationships and leave tempting decoys until the end.
Yellow hint: beginnings
Look for four words that can describe the start, origin, or first stage of something.
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Green hint: joining
These words can mean attaching, uniting, combining, or bringing people or things together.
Blue hint: 1980s TV and pop-culture abbreviations
Four tiles point to recognizable abbreviations or titles associated with 1980s entertainment and home media.
Purple hint: MAY___
Add the same word before each of four tiles. The resulting compounds or phrases are associated with “May.”
The full 16-word grid
Here are all the tiles from the September 3, 2025 puzzle:
DAY BOND ALF NES COMBINE VHS FUSE WED BIRTH MTV DAWN FLY GENESIS START FLOWER POLE
If you are still solving, pause here before reading the answer breakdown below.
Connections answers for September 3, 2025
Yellow: BEGINNING
BIRTH, DAWN, GENESIS, START
Each of these words can refer to a beginning or origin. Birth is the beginning of life, dawn can mark the beginning of a day, genesis means an origin or coming into existence, and start is a direct synonym for beginning.
Green: JOIN
BOND, COMBINE, FUSE, WED
These words describe joining or uniting. Things can bond, separate elements can combine or fuse, and people can wed. The category is broader than a simple synonym set because the words apply to different kinds of connections—physical, conceptual, or personal.
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Blue: TV-related abbreviations in the ’80s
ALF, MTV, NES, VHS
These four tiles evoke major pieces of 1980s television, gaming, and home entertainment:
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- ALF was the title of the sitcom about the wisecracking alien.
- MTV stands for Music Television.
- NES stands for Nintendo Entertainment System.
- VHS refers to the videocassette format widely used for recording and watching television and films at home.
The wording of this category is intentionally loose enough to make another tile look plausible.
Purple: MAY___
DAY, FLOWER, FLY, POLE
Adding May before each word produces:
- May Day
- Mayflower
- mayfly
- maypole
This is the hardest group because the connection is based on compounds and familiar phrases rather than a single shared definition. May Day is a holiday or observance, a mayflower is a flowering plant and the state flower of Massachusetts, a mayfly is an insect, and a maypole is the decorated pole associated with May Day celebrations.
The GENESIS red herring
GENESIS is the puzzle’s most effective decoy. It belongs in the yellow BEGINNING category because “genesis” means origin or creation. However, it also suggests the 1980s: the Sega Genesis video-game console was introduced during that decade.
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That second association can make it seem as though GENESIS should join ALF, MTV, and NES. But the intended blue group is built from the shorter tiles ALF, MTV, NES, and VHS. Once those four are removed, the remaining words resolve into the beginning, joining, and May groups.
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| Category | Tiles |
|---|---|
| BEGINNING | BIRTH, DAWN, GENESIS, START |
| JOIN | BOND, COMBINE, FUSE, WED |
| TV-related abbreviations in the ’80s | ALF, MTV, NES, VHS |
| MAY___ | DAY, FLOWER, FLY, POLE |
Want more puzzles after solving this one?
For readers who enjoy solving away from a screen, The New York Times Puzzle Mania! Book is an optional related collection. It includes twists on digital NYT Games, including Connections-style material, but it is not a reprint of the September 3, 2025 grid and is not needed to solve this archived puzzle.
This page covers the Connections game published on September 3, 2025, puzzle #815. It should not be confused with the current daily Connections game.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Connections answer for September 3, 2025?
The four groups were BEGINNING (BIRTH, DAWN, GENESIS, START), JOIN (BOND, COMBINE, FUSE, WED), TV-related abbreviations in the ’80s (ALF, MTV, NES, VHS), and MAY___ (DAY, FLOWER, FLY, POLE).
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What was the purple category in Connections #815?
The purple category was MAY___. The answers were DAY, FLOWER, FLY, and POLE, forming May Day, mayflower, mayfly, and maypole.
Why was GENESIS difficult in this puzzle?
GENESIS means a beginning, so it belongs in the yellow group. It was also a tempting decoy for the 1980s pop-culture group because Sega Genesis was a well-known 1980s video-game console.
The Bottom Line
The September 3, 2025 Connections puzzle (#815) grouped its tiles into BEGINNING, JOIN, 1980s TV and pop-culture abbreviations, and MAY___. The key trap was GENESIS: it evokes the 1980s, but its intended home was BEGINNING.
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