This page covers NYT Connections puzzle #918, the Monday, December 15, 2025 edition. Its four groups are tournament rounds, enormous, disreputable establishment, and what “C” might mean. The hints below go from gentle to explicit, so you can stop before the full answers.
Puzzle at a glance
- Date: Monday, December 15, 2025
- Puzzle number: #918
- Format: 16 words to sort into four groups of four. Each group has one hidden category.
Connections puzzles are dated by day, so a search for “today’s” hints will turn up whichever puzzle is current at the time. If you are working through this specific puzzle, the date above is the one to match.
Step 1: The 16 words
If you only want the raw tiles before deciding how to group them, here they are with no grouping or categories:
FINAL, QUALIFIER, QUARTER, SEMI, BUMPER, GIANT, MONSTER, TITANIC, DIVE, DUMP, HOLE, JOINT, CELSIUS, COLD, ONE HUNDRED, SEE
#1 Best Overall
Step 2: Category hints
These hints name the idea behind each group without giving away the words.
Yellow group: the easiest one
Think about how a sports competition is structured, from the early stages to the last match. Those stages are the connection.
Rank #2
Green group
Think size. These are words you would use to describe something very large.
Blue group
Think slang for a low-end bar or a place with a poor reputation.
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Think about what the letter C can stand for in measurements, numbers and scales, not in words that begin with C.
Step 3: Full answers
Here are the complete groupings. Some answer guides word the category labels slightly differently, but the four words in each group are the same across the coverage.
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Tournament rounds | FINAL, QUALIFIER, QUARTER, SEMI |
| Green | Enormous | BUMPER, GIANT, MONSTER, TITANIC |
| Blue | Disreputable establishment | DIVE, DUMP, HOLE, JOINT |
| Purple | What “C” might mean | CELSIUS, COLD, ONE HUNDRED, SEE |
How these answers were checked
Forbes, Insider Gaming and Yahoo Tech all list the same four groups for this puzzle. Forbes and Yahoo Tech use “enormous” as the category label. These are secondary answer guides rather than an official NYT answer page. If the NYT Games site shows different category wording for #918, follow the official page.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.About the puzzle archive
Forbes has described Connections as a free daily word game on the New York Times website and in the NYT Games app, with archive access for readers who hold an NYT All Access or Games subscription. That description reflects 2025 coverage. Subscription terms can change, so check the current terms on the NYT Games site before you rely on archive access for older puzzles.
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