NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, May 25 (game #714)
Looking for NYT Connections answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, plus my commentary on the puzzles.

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, May 24 (game #713).
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #714) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- DOUBLE
- HELIX
- SNAIL
- KING
- CONCH
- QUEEN
- TWIN
- ROOK
- ELECTRONIC
- JUNK
- ACE
- RINGER
- JACK
- LOBE
- CLONE
- CHAIN
NYT Connections today (game #714) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Poker
- GREEN: Lookalike
- BLUE: Places for studs and rings
- PURPLE: Add a word that sounds like “fail”
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #714) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: PLAYING CARDS
- GREEN: DOPPELGÄNGER
- BLUE: EAR PIERCING SITES
- PURPLE: __ MAIL
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #714) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #714, are…
- YELLOW: PLAYING CARDS ACE, JACK, KING, QUEEN
- GREEN: DOPPELGÄNGER CLONE, DOUBLE, RINGER, TWIN
- BLUE: EAR PIERCING SITES CONCH, HELIX, LOBE, ROOK
- PURPLE: __ MAIL CHAIN, ELECTRONIC, JUNK, SNAIL
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 1 mistake
EAR PIERCING SITES is something I know absolutely nothing about, so it was a good job that SNAIL triggered a quartet of __MAIL words.
Before my final pair of groups I’d made a mistake in thinking that there was a group containing curled things, so I had SNAIL, HELIX and CONCH and added LOBE as I was thinking about the shape of ears.
Fortunately I abandoned this blind alley and went for the far more obvious PLAYING CARDS and DOPPELGÄNGER.
According to German folklore, all humans have a spirit double which is invisible but identical to them. It’s an odd thought. Somewhere in the world there is someone who looks exactly like us playing Connections.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, May 24, game #713)
- YELLOW: BABY GEAR BIB, BOTTLE, MONITOR, STROLLER
- GREEN: KINDS OF PANTS MINUS "S" CAPRI, JEAN, JOGGER, SLACK
- BLUE: NEW YORK SPORTS TEAM MEMBERS JET, MET, NET, RANGER
- PURPLE: BLACK WOMEN AUTHORS BUTLER, GAY, HOOKS, WALKER
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.