Here are the answers for the New York Times (NYT) Connections puzzle #653 today, released on March 25th, 2025, and some hints to help you solve them.
New York Times have a variety of puzzle games available for their readers and there are new puzzles to play on a daily basis. One of these games is called Connections.
The rules of the game are simple for Connections. There are sixteen words for players to sort into four groups of four words that share something in common.
Once you think you have figured out a group, simply click on the four words and click on submit to see if you got it right. You are allowed to get 4 mistakes to solve the puzzle.
Each group is assigned a colour, which shows how easy it should be to group it from yellow, being straightforward, to purple, tricky.

If you’re struggling with today’s NYT Connections answers, we’ve included some hints to help you out. If that’s not enough, we have the answers too.
There are sixteen images for the Connection puzzles, which are:
- BALE
- CRYSTAL
- PANDA
- MUD
- TEDDY
- TUXEDO
- ABLE
- DAY
- ABEL
- CAL
- A BELL
- OREO
- ABE
- CROSSWORD
- BELA
- DICK

Connections 653 Group Hints Today (March 25th, 2025)
We know some of you would prefer to have hints for the solution today instead of seeing the answer, so we’ve provided some below to help you out.
- Hint 1: One of the groups is “U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NICKNAMES“.
- Hint 2: ABLE and BALE are in the same group.
- Hint 3: Here is an image that will help you solve one of the groups:

- Hint 4: One group of words comes after the words “CLEAR AS“.
What are the Connections 653 Answers Today? (3/25/25)
Here are the answers to NYT Connections puzzle 653 released on 25th March 2025:
- BLACK-AND-WHITE THINGS – CROSSWORD, OREO, PANDA, TUXEDO

- ANAGRAMS – ABEL, ABLE, BALE, BELA

- U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NICKNAMES – ABE, CAL, DICK, TEDDY

- CLEAR AS ___– A BELL, CRYSTAL, DAY, MUD

If you would like us to cover any other puzzles, let us know in the comments section below.
Click here for the hints and answers to Connections 654!