NYT Connections Hint and Answer for December 13, 2025

Happy Saturday, puzzle lovers! Today’s NYT Connections board is a delightful mix of fashion, phonetics, sports history, and a very clever "Purple" category that might make you do a double-take.

If you’re looking for a little nudge to keep your streak alive or just want the full breakdown of the answer for 2025-12-13, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive into today’s groupings!

Hints for Today’s Categories

If you don't want the full answers just yet, here are some helpful hints to get your brain moving in the right direction:

• Yellow Category: Think about different styles of trousers that offer plenty of room for your legs to breathe.
• Green Category: Say these words out loud. Notice anything missing in the way they are pronounced?
• Blue Category: This one is for the sports fans—specifically those who root for a certain team in Queens, New York.
• Purple Category: These look like common words or names, but they are actually missing their final letter to reveal famous figures from ancient stories.

Yellow: WIDE-LEGGED PANT STYLES

These are all terms for loose-fitting, stylish trousers that have been popular across various eras of fashion.

• CULOTTE: Knee-length trousers cut to resemble a skirt.
• GAUCHO: Calf-length, wide-legged trousers modeled after South American riders.
• HAREM: Long, baggy pants that are tapered at the ankle.
• PALAZZO: Extremely wide-legged trousers that flare out from the waist, usually made of light, flowing fabric.

Green: SILENT "T"

Every word in this group contains a letter "T" that stays completely quiet when you speak.

• APOSTLE: Pronounced uh-poss-ul.
• DEPOT: Pronounced dee-poh.
• MORTGAGE: Pronounced mor-gij.
• POIROT: The famous detective, Hercule Poirot, pronounced pwa-roh.

Blue: NEW YORK METS LEGENDS

If you know your baseball history, these names should jump right off the grid. These are four of the most iconic players to ever wear the Mets uniform.

• GOODEN: Dwight "Doc" Gooden, the powerhouse pitcher of the 80s.
• PIAZZA: Mike Piazza, the Hall of Fame catcher.
• SEAVER: Tom Seaver, "The Terrific," arguably the greatest Met of all time.
• STRAWBERRY: Darryl Strawberry, the legendary slugger.

Purple: GREEK MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES MINUS A LETTER

This is the "trick" category for the day. Each word is a famous figure from Greek mythology with the last letter removed.

• AJA: (AJAX) The heroic warrior of the Trojan War.
• ARE: (ARES) The Greek God of War.
• HER: (HERA) The Queen of the Gods.
• HERCULE: (HERCULES) The divine hero known for his strength.

(Note: This was a clever overlap with POIROT in the Green category, as his first name is Hercule!)

Final Solution for December 13, 2025

• WIDE-LEGGED PANT STYLES: CULOTTE, GAUCHO, HAREM, PALAZZO
• SILENT "T": APOSTLE, DEPOT, MORTGAGE, POIROT
• NEW YORK METS LEGENDS: GOODEN, PIAZZA, SEAVER, STRAWBERRY
• GREEK MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES MINUS A LETTER: AJA, ARE, HER, HERCULE

Today's puzzle was a classic Wyna Liu production! The overlap between "Hercule" and "Poirot" was a brilliant red herring designed to make you want to group them together. The Mets category was a nice treat for sports fans, while the wide-legged pants category required a bit of fashion savvy.

Did you manage to spot the missing letters in the Greek gods, or did the Mets legends carry you to victory?

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you play NYT Connections?

The goal is to find four groups of four words that share something in common. Select four words and tap "Submit" to see if your guess is correct. You have four lives before the game ends.

What do the colors mean in Connections?

The colors indicate the difficulty level of the group:

• Yellow: The most straightforward/easiest.
• Green: Common knowledge or slightly more complex themes.
• Blue: Often involves specific trivia or wordplay.
• Purple: The trickiest category, often involving word structure, puns, or fill-in-the-blank clues.

When does the NYT Connections reset?

A new puzzle is released every day at midnight in your local time zone.

Can I play past NYT Connections puzzles?

Yes! You can access the NYT Games archive through the New York Times Games app or website if you have a subscription. There are also several fan-made archives online that store previous grids.