Issue #687 Tue 25 Mar
Connections hints — March 25, 2025
Today's grid requires a steady hand to navigate between direct associations and a few playful letter-shuffling distractions. A patient approach to the overlaps will serve you well.
yellow group 7 nudges
Yellow group
Ink on newsprint, a formal dinner jacket, or a trip to the zoo to watch the bamboo-eaters.
Visual imagery and common nouns
Shared physical characteristics
Members are 4–9 letters; first letters C, O, P, T.
BLACK-AND-WHITE THINGS
One is CROSSWORD.
CROSSWORD · OREO · PANDA · TUXEDO
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Green group
Four tiles in a tray, rearranged until the vowels finally sit in the right chairs.
Linguistic manipulation
Rearrangement of identical letters
Members are 4 letters each; first letters A, B.
ANAGRAMS
One is ABEL.
ABEL · ABLE · BALE · BELA
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Blue group
Whatever you set the night before is what gets you up — for better or worse.
Historical figures
Shortened proper names
Members are 3–5 letters; first letters A, C, D, T.
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NICKNAMES
One is ABE.
ABE · CAL · DICK · TEDDY
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Violet group
You take the same route home and a single door is open that's never open.
Idiomatic expressions
Sentence completion phrases
Members are 3–7 letters; first letters A, C, D, M.
CLEAR AS ___
One is A BELL.
A BELL · CRYSTAL · DAY · MUD