If you’re searching for the Connections solution for Wednesday, March 12, 2025, you’re in the right place. This post will provide you with hints, strategies, and insights into all four categories, including explanations for some of the more challenging words. Be warned, spoilers await for March 12, NYT Connections #640! Continue reading if you’re ready for some clues (and the answers) for today’s puzzle.

To easily return to our Connections hints each day, consider bookmarking this page. You’ll also find previous hints here, allowing you to catch up on any puzzles you may have missed.

Below this section, you’ll find subtle hints for today’s Connections answers. Scroll down carefully and take only the hints you’re comfortable with!

Credit: Connections/NYT

Hints for Today’s Connections Themes

Here are some spoiler-free hints regarding the categories in today’s Connections:

• Yellow category: Precision is key—ensure you distinguish between dry and wet ingredients.

• Green category: They all share the same hue.

• Blue category: These words are notorious for causing poets headaches.

• Purple category: A fill-in-the-blank that’s tied to something sweet (or possibly sour).

Caution: Spoilers Ahead!

The following sections will reveal some answers. Proceed with caution if you don’t want the entire experience spoiled. (The complete solutions are detailed a bit further down.)

Anticipating the Tricky Elements

CARDINAL relates to a specific type of bird characterized by a distinct color.

JOHN pairs with another word to form the name of a well-known comedian.

Three colors listed are interconnected, though not through their traditional color associations.

Categories for Today’s Connections

• Yellow: INGREDIENTS IN CLASSIC POUND CAKE

• Green: THINGS THAT ARE RED

• Blue: WORDS KNOWN FOR HAVING NO TRUE RHYME

• Purple: ___ CANDY

Double Caution: The Answers Are Below

Ready for the solutions to today’s Connections puzzle? Each answer is laid out below.

Yellow Words in Today’s Connections

The yellow category is considered the most straightforward. Its theme, INGREDIENTS IN CLASSIC POUND CAKE, includes: BUTTER, EGGS, FLOUR, SUGAR.

Green Words in Today’s Connections

The green category comes next in ease. This section features THINGS THAT ARE RED, which are: CARDINAL, ELMO, KETCHUP, ROSE.

Blue Words in Today’s Connections

The blue grouping is the next in difficulty. The theme for this category is WORDS SAID TO HAVE NO EXACT RHYMES, with the words: MONTH, ORANGE, PURPLE, SILVER.

Purple Words in Today’s Connections

Finally, the purple category is deemed the most challenging. This theme is ___ CANDY, encompassing: COTTON, EYE, JOHN, ROCK.

Solving Today’s Connections

KETCHUP and ELMO together evoke the idea of “things that are red,” and with ROSE and CARDINAL, it starts to come together. 🟩

The words SUGAR, EGGS, FLOUR, and BUTTER create a clear match (which also reminds one of that song from Waitress). 🟨

Seeing COTTON, EYE, and JOHN brings a humorous thought to mind—evoking the classic “Cotton Eye Joe.”

PURPLE, ORANGE, and SILVER are present, but the link eludes at first. The realization hits that these specific terms are notoriously rhyme-less. 🟦

This leads to EYE, COTTON, JOHN, and ROCK. The associations are tricky: Long JOHN, EYEball, COTTON ball, ROCK bottom, EYElid. The connection finally emerges: “___ CANDY.”

Connections
Puzzle #640
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Rules for Playing Connections

A comprehensive guide on playing Connections is available, but here’s a quick overview of the gameplay:

Access the Connections game via the New York Times website or through their Games app (formerly known as the Crossword app). You’ll encounter a board composed of 16 tiles, each showcasing a word or phrase. Your task?Identify a set of four tiles that share a common theme. This could mean they all relate to a particular type of thing (for example, RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all considered forms of precipitation) or it might involve some clever wordplay (for instance, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH may all be types of lists): bucket list, guest list, etc.).

Select a quartet of items and hit the Submit button. If your selection is correct, the corresponding category and color will appear. (Yellow indicates the easiest, followed by green, then blue, and purple.) An incorrect guess allows for another attempt.

Your objective is to accurately identify all four groups. However, if you make four mistakes before confirming your answers, the game will end, revealing the correct solutions.

Winning Strategies for Connections

The most crucial insight to excel in Connections is recognizing that the groupings are intentionally designed to be tricky. Anticipate some overlapping themes. For instance, a previous puzzle featured six breakfast items: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. However, BACON was part of a grouping related to painters alongside CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER. Meanwhile, EGG was clustered with items typically sold in dozens (including JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). Always ensure beyond doubt that your selection of four consists exclusively of those four elements before submitting.

When faced with deadlock, another tactic is to identify words that seem unrelated to the others. If the word WHISTLER conjures a specific painting related to “Whistler’s Mother,” you’re on the right track. In solving that particular puzzle, a quick search for a painter named Close proved enlightening, as Close didn’t fit with the obvious connections either.

Lastly, if you’re ever at an impasse, reading a few helpful hints is a practical option—that’s exactly why these guidelines are provided daily. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the next challenge!