The New York Times Connections puzzle for Friday, July 11, 2025 (Game #761) presented players with a challenging yet rewarding wordplay experience, featuring a mix of common phrases and a particularly cunning purple category. While New York Times testers rated the puzzle a 3 out of 5 in difficulty, many players found it tougher than anticipated, largely due to what were described as “sneaky red herrings” (The Express).
Today’s 16 words were: UBER, SWAN, LOVE, VIAL, GOOSE, GOOGLE, FOWL, ZOOM, YAHOO, SIREN, MIEN, DODO, PHOTOSHOP, FOLK, GOOF, and OFFAL.
Let’s break down the categories that connected these seemingly disparate words:
🟡 Yellow Group: Companies That Have Become Verbs
This category, typically the easiest, included words like GOOGLE, PHOTOSHOP, UBER, and ZOOM. These are all brand names that have become so ubiquitous they are now commonly used as verbs in everyday language (e.g., “Google it,” “Photoshop that image,” “Uber a ride,” “Zoom into the meeting”). However, Kris Holt of Forbes pointed out a slight inaccuracy in the category’s naming, noting that PHOTOSHOP is an application owned by Adobe, rather than a company itself (Forbes).
🟢 Green Group: Silly Person
The green category grouped together words that are all informal terms for a foolish or silly person: DODO, GOOF, GOOSE, and YAHOO. This group proved to be a helpful anchor for many players, especially in distinguishing words that might initially seem to fit into other categories, such as the bird-related words (Rock Paper Shotgun).
🟤 Blue Group: Kinds of Songs
The blue category brought together various types of songs: FOLK, LOVE, SIREN, and SWAN. This group required players to think about the broader associations of words, moving beyond their most common meanings. “Siren song” and “swan song” are well-known phrases referring to types of melodies or final performances (CNET).
🟣 Purple Group: Homophones of Synonyms for “Despicable”
As often is the case, the purple category was the puzzle’s most challenging, relying on clever wordplay and homophones. The words FOWL, MIEN, OFFAL, and VIAL, when pronounced, sound like synonyms for “despicable”: foul, mean, awful, and vile. This type of category frequently trips up players, as it requires not just recognizing connections but also understanding phonetic similarities and less common word meanings. For instance, “mien” (meaning a person’s appearance or demeanor) is a less common word, making its homophone “mean” (despicable) particularly tricky to identify (Forbes).
For those who enjoy the challenge, the New York Times also offers a “Connections: Sports Edition” puzzle, which officially moved out of its beta phase on Super Bowl Sunday, February 9. This sports-themed variant, Game #291, is now available through The Athletic’s app and features categories such as Olympic combat sports, college teams (Wildcats), terms associated with Steph Curry, and women’s golf major winners (CNET).
Today’s main Connections puzzle served as a reminder of the game’s ability to blend common knowledge with linguistic nuances, keeping players on their toes and often leading to a satisfying “aha!” moment when the trickiest connections finally click.
