NYT Connections Answer

Happy Holidays! If you’ve stepped away from the wrapping paper and the eggnog to solve today’s puzzle, you’re in for a treat. The December 25, 2025, Connections grid is a festive mix of linguistics, music, and descriptive flair.

Whether you're looking for a small nudge or the full answer for 2025-12-25, I’ve got you covered. Today's puzzle has a relatively friendly Yellow and Blue group, but Purple requires a keen ear for music theory.

Let’s dive into the hints and solutions for puzzle #988.

Today's Connections Strategy

The key to today’s board is identifying words with multiple meanings. "FASHION" and "COIN" might look like they belong with clothing or money, but they actually function as verbs here. Meanwhile, "PURPLE" and "FLOWER" share a color connection, but they are split across two very different categories.

Group 1: Ornate, as Prose

NYT Connections Hint: These words describe writing or speech that is a bit "too much"—perhaps a little over-the-top or unnecessarily elaborate.

• EXCESSIVE
• FLOWERY
• MELODRAMATIC
• PURPLE

Explanation: In literature, "Purple Prose" refers to writing that is so extravagant or ornate that it breaks the flow of the story. Flowery and Excessive are synonyms for this kind of heightened style, while Melodramatic describes the emotional tone that often accompanies it.

Group 2: Create

NYT Connections Hint: Focus on these words as actions. They all mean to bring something into existence, whether it's an idea, an object, or a phrase.

• COIN
• FASHION
• HATCH
• MAKE UP

Explanation: To Coin a phrase is to invent it. To Fashion something is to shape or build it. To Hatch is usually used for plans or plots, and Make Up means to invent a story or excuse.

Group 3: Things with Stems

NYT Connections Hint: Think about the physical anatomy of these four very different objects. They all share a specific structural part.

• CHERRY
• FLOWER
• MUSICAL NOTE
• WINE GLASS

Explanation: This is a classic "common part" category. A Cherry hangs from one, a Flower grows on one, a Wine Glass is held by one, and in notation, a Musical Note has a vertical line called a stem.

Group 4: Comprised of Solfege (Do-Re-Mi)

NYT Connections Hint: This is the "tricky" purple category. Try saying these words out loud and listen for the musical notes (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti) hidden inside them.

• LAREDO
• MIRE
• RETIRE
• SOLTI

Explanation: This is a brilliant linguistic category. Each word is made up entirely of solfege syllables:

• LAREDO: La-Re-Do (A city in Texas)
• MIRE: Mi-Re (A swampy area)
• RETIRE: Re-Ti-Re (To go to bed or quit a job)
• SOLTI: Sol-Ti (Sir Georg Solti, the famous conductor—a clever musical Easter egg!)

Quick Summary: Answer for 2025-12-25

If you just want the quick breakdown, here is the final solution:

• Ornate, as Prose (Yellow): Excessive, Flowery, Melodramatic, Purple
• Create (Green): Coin, Fashion, Hatch, Make Up
• Things with Stems (Blue): Cherry, Flower, Musical Note, Wine Glass
• Comprised of Solfege (Purple): Laredo, Mire, Retire, Solti

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you play NYT Connections?

The game presents a grid of 16 words. Your goal is to group them into four sets of four based on a common theme. Each group is color-coded by difficulty: Yellow (easiest), Green, Blue, and Purple (trickiest).

When does NYT Connections reset?

The puzzle resets daily at midnight in your local time zone.

Can there be more than one right answer?

While some words might seem to fit in multiple categories, there is only one unique solution where every word fits into a group of four.

What is "Purple Prose"?

As seen in today's NYT Connections hint, "Purple Prose" is a literary term for text that is so overly ornate and flowery that it draws too much attention to itself.