Today’s Connections puzzle is a fun mix of categories, with two entertainment sections. Here are hints, answers and help for Nov. 23, #896.
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won “Headline Writer of the Year” award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a fun mix of categories, with two entertainment sections. If you need help sorting the words into groups, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: To go light on someone’s punishment.
Green group hint: Where our furry friends live.
Blue group hint: Award-winning director.
Purple group hint: Swedish pop group tunes.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Lenient.
Green group: Animal homes.
Blue group: Oliver Stone movies.
Purple group: Second words in titles of ABBA hits.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The completed NYT Connections puzzle for Nov. 23, 2025.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is lenient. The four answers are easy, lax, loose and slack.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is animal homes. The four answers are burrow, den, lodge and warren.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is Oliver Stone movies. The four answers are JFK, Nixon, Platoon and Wall Street.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is second words in titles of ABBA hits. The four answers are Gimme, Mia, Queen and Trouper.
