If youre looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, October 11, 2025, read onIll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, Ill explain the meanings of the trickier words and well learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 11, NYT Connections #853! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to todays Connections game.

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. (If you play Wordle, Strands, or Quordle, check out our hints for those games, too.)

Below, Ill give you some oblique hints at todays Connections answers. And farther down the page, Ill reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

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Credit: Connections/NYT The category types in todays Connections puzzleHere are spoiler-free hints that describe the type of each category in todays Connections:

Yellow category - Synonyms.

Green category - Synonyms.

Blue category - Related nouns.

Purple category - Related nouns.

Hints for the themes in todays Connections puzzleHere are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in todays Connections:

Yellow category - What you need to get the job done.

Green category - Clothing verbs.

Blue category - Paved places.

Purple category - Short for something else.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for todays Connections puzzle!Were about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you dont want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

A heads up about the tricky partsDON is a verb, not a name.

TACKLE is part of a phrase like TACKLE box.

LANE is something that might be part of someones address.

What are the categories in todays Connections?Yellow: EQUIPMENT

Green: DRESS IN

Blue: STREET SUFFIXES

Purple: NICKNAMES THAT HAVE OTHER MEANINGS

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOWReady to learn the answers to todays Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in todays Connections?The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for todays yellow group is EQUIPMENT and the words are: GEAR, KIT, STUFF, TACKLE.

What are the green words in todays Connections?The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for todays green category is DRESS IN and the words are: DON, PUT ON, SPORT, WEAR.

What are the blue words in todays Connections?The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for todays blue category is STREET SUFFIXES and the words are: ALLEY, COURT, LANE, WAY.

What are the purple words in todays Connections?The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for todays purple category is NICKNAMES THAT HAVE OTHER MEANINGS and the words are: BILL, BOB, PAT, TOM.

How I solved todays ConnectionsOK, looks like there are lots of words that are also names today: DON, BILL, BOB, PAT, etc.

DON, WEAR, PUT ON, and SPORT probably go together as words describing putting on clothing.

What do you think so far? ALLEY, LANE, COURT, and WAY could all be street types.

KIT, GEAR, and STUFF could all be words for a collection of necessities. If I add TACKLE (maybe like a TACKLE box?) that would leave me with four names, so lets try that.

That leaves PAT, TOM, BOB, and BILL. Are those just all shortened male names? Yes, but they all have other meanings. PAT is a verb, TOM is (I guess) a name for a male cat, BOB is another verb, and BILL is what eventually becomes a law.

Connections Puzzle #853 How to play ConnectionsI have a full guide to playing Connections, but heres a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Games app (formerly the Crossword app). Youll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, youll get a chance to try again.

You win when youve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win ConnectionsThe most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So dont hit submit until youve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If youre stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed Whistlers Mother, you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didnt fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when youre stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hintswhich is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.