Seeking the solutions for the Connections challenge for Sunday, April 27, 2025? This post offers insightful hints, strategies, and the final answers for each of the four categories. Along the way, the meanings of some of the trickier terms will be clarified, enhancing the understanding of how everything interrelates. Caution: Spoilers for April 27, NYT Connections #686 lie ahead! Continue reading if you desire hints (and ultimately the solutions) for today’s puzzle.

For a quick way to revisit our daily Connections hints, be sure to bookmark this page. Previous hints are also available there, perfect for catching up on missed puzzles.

Below are some subtle hints regarding today’s Connections answers, followed by the themes and solutions further down the page. Proceed carefully and only take the hints you find necessary!

Credit: Connections/NYT

Hints for Today’s Connections Themes

Here are some spoiler-free hints for today’s group categories:

• Yellow category – Mathematical symbols.

• Green category – Terms describing loose strands of hair.

• Blue category – Snacks packaged for munching.

• Purple category – A fill-in-the-blank for someone hailing from a Nordic region.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Game!

Be prepared for some answer reveals. Scroll cautiously if you wish to avoid complete spoilers (the full answers are provided below).

Navigating the Tricky Elements

A word precedes FISH to denote a type of red gummy candy. (Also, don’t overlook Trader Joe’s version known as Scandinavian Swimmers.)

Though THATCH is typically associated with roofing made of straw, it can also describe an unruly mess of hair.

TAKIs are a zesty snack originating from Mexico. (Once again, Trader Joe’s offers a version worth trying.)

Categories of Today’s Connections

• Yellow: CALCULATOR BUTTONS

• Green: AMOUNTS OF HAIR

• Blue: SALTY SNACK UNIT

• Purple: SWEDISH ___

Double Warning: Solutions Below

Eager to unveil the answers for today’s Connections game? They are detailed below.

Yellow Words for Today’s Connections

The yellow category is the simplest. Today’s theme involves CALCULATOR BUTTONS, comprising: EQUALS, MINUS, PERCENT, and TIMES.

Green Words for Today’s Connections

The green category is the second most straightforward. It centers around AMOUNTS OF HAIR, containing: LOCK, SHOCK, THATCH, and TUFT.

Blue Words for Today’s Connections

The blue category is considered moderately challenging. It focuses on SALTY SNACK UNITS, which include: COMBO, GOLDFISH, RUFFLE, and TAKI.

Purple Words for Today’s Connections

The purple group is the most difficult. Its theme is SWEDISH ___ featuring: CHEF, FISH, MASSAGE, and MEATBALL.

How to Solve Today’s Connections

Initially, the grouping of TIMES, PERCENT, MINUS, and EQUALS appears to belong together as mathematical terms.

LOCK, RUFFLE, and TUFT seem to fit as descriptors for small sections of hair.

Brands like TAKI, RUFFLE, and GOLDFISH suggest a snacking theme; are COMBOs not also snacks? Indeed!

LOCK, RUFFLE, and TUFT persist in the puzzle. Could THATCH be related?

This leaves CHEF, MASSAGE, MEATBALL, and FISH. Interesting! Head CHEF, massage oils, and fish oil connections form here, alongside kneading and rolling themes. Fascinating! The Swedish CHEF is iconic in Muppet lore, while Swedish FISH refer to gummy treats. A relaxing Swedish MASSAGE and classic Swedish MEATBALLs from IKEA round out the connections.

Connections
Puzzle #686

Playing Connections

A comprehensive guide to playing Connections is available, but here’s a quick recap of the rules:

Begin by accessing the Connections game either on the New York Times site or within their Games app (formerly known as the Crossword app). A game board containing 16 tiles with words or phrases will be displayed. Your task is to identify a group of four tiles that share a common theme. Often, these words will be of the same category (e.g., RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of precipitation), but occasionally, a clever wordplay will be involved (such as BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH, which are forms of lists, like bucket list and guest list).

Select your four items and click the Submit button. If your choice is correct, the category will be highlighted in color. (Yellow indicates the simplest group, followed by green, then blue, and finally purple.) If your selection is incorrect, you can try again.

Victory is achieved when all four categories are correctly identified. However, failing four times before completing the game results in automatic reveal of the answers.

Winning at Connections

Success in Connections depends on recognizing the intentional complexities embedded in the groupings. Anticipate overlaps in categories. For instance, a prior puzzle included six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. However, BACON was categorized under famous painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, while EGG corresponded to items that come by the dozen (like JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). Hence, be cautious—submit only when confident your group contains all four items.

As an alternative strategy, consider words that appear disconnected from the others. For example, if WHISTLER conjures images of the painting famously known as “Whistler’s Mother,” that might lead toward a solution. A previous puzzle involving the painter Close prompted a search due to its lack of evident themes.

When stumped, seeking out helpful hints is prudent, which is the reason why these insights are shared daily. Tune in tomorrow for the next puzzle!