NYT Connections hints and answers for May 25: Complete breakdown of Sunday puzzle #714

For puzzle enthusiasts navigating their Sunday morning with a warm cup of tea and a sharp mind, today's NYT Connections hints puzzle (#714) proved to be an intriguing challenge. As players around the globe scrambled to spot links among 16 seemingly unrelated words, today's edition offered a cleverly layered experience centered around poker, piercings, identical copies, and familiar email nuisances.

The Game That Has Puzzle Lovers Hooked

Launched by The New York Times in 2023 after the immense popularity of Wordle, NYT Connections has carved out its own loyal following. The concept is elegant in its simplicity but brutal in execution. Sixteen words are displayed in a grid, and the player must identify four groups of four words that share a common thread.

Categories are color-coded based on difficulty — yellow (easy), green (moderate), blue (hard), and purple (very hard).

Today’s #714 puzzle, released on Sunday, May 25, 2025, came with layers of misdirection and clever associations — a reminder of how deceptive simplicity can be.

Below, we offer NYT Connections hints and full answers for those who may have found themselves stumped.

May 25 Puzzle: Category Hints

Each NYT Connections puzzle tests the player’s ability to identify patterns, meanings, and nuances.

The categories for May 25, arranged by difficulty, were as follows, as per a report by Beebom:

• Yellow: You play poker with these
  
• Green: Your twin, but evil
  
• Blue: People get piercings here
  
• Purple: A word comes after all of these
  

The clues, while brief, required a blend of logical thinking and lateral association. For example, while the yellow group leaned on familiar card game terminology, the blue category veered into anatomical specificity.

Puzzle #714 Answers — Spoilers Ahead

Those who exhausted all four attempts or simply sought resolution will find the complete answers below, as mentioned in a report by Beebom:

1. PLAYING CARDS: ACE, JACK, KING, QUEEN
   
2. DOPPELGÄNGER: CLONE, DOUBLE, RINGER, TWIN
   
3. EAR PIERCING SITES: CONCH, HELIX, LOBE, ROOK
   
4. ____ MAIL: CHAIN, ELECTRONIC, JUNK, SNAIL
   

The blue category — ear piercing sites — was arguably the trickiest. Words like "rook" and "conch" might confuse the uninitiated, but are well known among piercing aficionados.

While today’s answers might offer some relief to those stuck, they also serve as a testament to the thoughtful design behind each puzzle. Whether you’re a casual player or a competitive solver, NYT Connections remains a compelling reminder of how interconnected words and our thoughts truly are.

For those eager for tomorrow’s challenge, sharpen your logic and vocabulary — the grid resets at midnight.

FAQs

Is the NYT Connections no longer free?

Connections is free to play on the New York Times website and the NYT Games app. Every day at midnight, a fresh grid of 16 seemingly unrelated words is released, challenging players to identify and group them into four hidden themes.

What's the hardest color in Connections?

When a player correctly groups four words, the game reveals the category along with a color that indicates its difficulty level: yellow for the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple for the hardest. Each Connections puzzle includes one category from each level.