NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Thursday, December 18, 2025 (#921)

Puzzle #921. Start with a gentle nudge and work down — the full answers are at the bottom, hidden until you ask for them.

Just tell me the answer

The NYT Connections answer for Thursday, December 18, 2025 (puzzle #921) is: YELLOW — BIT OF WISHFUL THINKING: DAYDREAM, FANCY, FANTASY, ILLUSION. GREEN — PROTAGONIST: HERO, LEAD, PRINCIPAL, STAR. BLUE — COMPONENT OF AN ARTS AND CRAFTS PROJECT: FELT, GLITTER, PIPE CLEANER, POMPOM. PURPLE — SOCIAL ___: BUTTERFLY, MEDIA, SECURITY, WORKER.

Today's 16 words

The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Thursday, December 18, 2025. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.

HERO
BUTTERFLY
FELT
FANCY
GLITTER
FANTASY
STAR
MEDIA
DAYDREAM
WORKER
PRINCIPAL
POMPOM
SECURITY
LEAD
PIPE CLEANER
ILLUSION

How hard is Connections #921?

Medium47/100
  • One category runs on wordplay rather than meaning.
  • At least one entry is a phrase rather than a single word.

Where to start: Look for the four words that combine with "Social" — locking that group down removes four red herrings from the rest of the grid.

Connections hints for Thursday, December 18, 2025

Four levels, each giving away a little more. Open only as many as you need.

NYT Connections answers for Thursday, December 18, 2025

Keep playing

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Common questions

What is the NYT Connections answer for Thursday, December 18, 2025?

The NYT Connections answer for Thursday, December 18, 2025 (puzzle #921) is: YELLOW — BIT OF WISHFUL THINKING: DAYDREAM, FANCY, FANTASY, ILLUSION. GREEN — PROTAGONIST: HERO, LEAD, PRINCIPAL, STAR. BLUE — COMPONENT OF AN ARTS AND CRAFTS PROJECT: FELT, GLITTER, PIPE CLEANER, POMPOM. PURPLE — SOCIAL ___: BUTTERFLY, MEDIA, SECURITY, WORKER.

What is the purple group in Connections #921?

The purple (hardest) group is "SOCIAL ___": BUTTERFLY, MEDIA, SECURITY, WORKER.

What is the easiest group in today's Connections puzzle?

The yellow group is the most straightforward: "BIT OF WISHFUL THINKING" — DAYDREAM, FANCY, FANTASY, ILLUSION. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.

What number is today's Connections puzzle?

Thursday, December 18, 2025 is NYT Connections puzzle #921. Connections launched on 12 June 2023 with puzzle #1, and a new puzzle is published every day.

What time does a new NYT Connections puzzle come out?

A new Connections puzzle unlocks at midnight in your own local time zone, so the changeover happens at a different moment around the world. The puzzle itself is the same for everyone on a given date.