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NYT Connections Puzzle 820 was published on Monday, September 8, 2025. The four groups are Nonsense; Increase, with “up”; Fictional spies; and Cat ___. If you are still solving, start with the gentle hints below and open the answer section only when you are ready for the spoilers.
Connections 820: the 16 words
Here are the words from the Monday, September 8, 2025, puzzle:
- FISH
- HIKE
- HUNT
- JACK
- BULL
- PEEL
- ARCHER
- TAIL
- CRANK
- WALK
- NAP
- BUNK
- BALONEY
- RAISE
- RUBBISH
- POWERS
Gentle hints for NYT Connections Puzzle 820
Connections asks you to divide 16 words into four groups of four. The groups are color-coded by difficulty, from yellow through purple, but the apparent difficulty of a category can vary from player to player.
- Yellow: These four words can mean nonsense, falsehood, or worthless talk.
- Green: Pair these words with “up” to make phrases associated with increasing something.
- Blue: These are names or surnames of fictional spies.
- Purple: Put CAT before each word to make a familiar compound word or phrase.
One-word clues
If the category hints are not quite enough, these nudges point to one member of each group:
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- Yellow: BULL
- Green: HIKE
- Blue: POWERS
- Purple: TAIL
Spoiler warning: Connections 820 answers
Reveal the complete solution
Yellow: Nonsense
BALONEY, BULL, BUNK, RUBBISH
All four words can describe nonsense, foolish statements, or worthless material. “Baloney” and “bull” can refer to false or nonsensical talk. “Bunk” can mean foolish or untrue statements, while “rubbish” can describe something worthless or nonsensical.
Green: Increase, with “up”
CRANK, HIKE, JACK, RAISE
Each word can be paired with up: crank up, hike up, jack up, and raise up. In the puzzle’s intended category, the resulting phrases indicate increasing or lifting something.
Rank #2
Blue: Fictional spies
ARCHER, HUNT, PEEL, POWERS
These refer to fictional spies from different television and film properties:
- Sterling Archer is the central spy character in the animated series Archer.
- Ethan Hunt is the lead agent in the Mission: Impossible films.
- Emma Peel is the spy associated with the television series The Avengers.
- Austin Powers is the title spy of the comedy film series.
Purple: Cat ___
FISH, NAP, TAIL, WALK
Adding cat before each word produces catfish, catnap, cattail, and catwalk.
Why this puzzle can be tricky
The puzzle includes several words that invite plausible but incorrect connections. Jack, for example, may attract attention because of expressions such as “jackass,” but it belongs with CRANK, HIKE, and RAISE in the “increase, with ‘up’” group.
The purple category is easy to overlook if NAP and WALK are treated only as everyday activities. They become much more useful when you test whether CAT can precede them: catnap and catwalk are both familiar terms.
The fictional-spy group is also deliberately broad. Archer, Hunt, Peel, and Powers do not come from one franchise; they are characters from separate television and film series. That mixed cultural reference is likely to make the blue group less immediately obvious than the word-based categories.
A practical solving path
- Test CAT compounds. Once you see catfish, catnap, cattail, and catwalk, remove those four words.
- Look for synonyms of nonsense. BALONEY, BULL, BUNK, and RUBBISH form a strong semantic set.
- Check the remaining words with “up.” CRANK, HIKE, JACK, and RAISE all work in the intended increase-related phrases.
- Use the leftovers for the spy category. ARCHER, HUNT, PEEL, and POWERS are the names connected with fictional spies.
This is a useful solving route for this particular board, not a claim about official solving statistics or measured puzzle difficulty.
Recommended Free Tools
Want more word-connection puzzles?
If you enjoyed this 4×4 format, a Connections puzzle book or other word-connection puzzle book can provide additional offline practice. Look for a book clearly described as a Connections-style or 4×4 word puzzle collection; do not assume that a third-party book is an official New York Times product unless its publisher says so.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the answer to NYT Connections Puzzle 820?
The groups are BALONEY, BULL, BUNK, RUBBISH for “Nonsense”; CRANK, HIKE, JACK, RAISE for “Increase, with ‘up’”; ARCHER, HUNT, PEEL, POWERS for “Fictional spies”; and FISH, NAP, TAIL, WALK for “Cat ___.”
When was NYT Connections Puzzle 820 published?
Puzzle 820 was published on Monday, September 8, 2025. It is an archived puzzle, not the Connections game for September 8, 2026.
What are the Cat ___ answers in Puzzle 820?
The four answers are FISH, NAP, TAIL, and WALK, forming catfish, catnap, cattail, and catwalk.
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Connections 820 resolves into four sets: BALONEY, BULL, BUNK, RUBBISH; CRANK, HIKE, JACK, RAISE; ARCHER, HUNT, PEEL, POWERS; and FISH, NAP, TAIL, WALK.
Quick Recap
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