🧩 Puzzle Information
- Puzzle Number: 872
- Release Date: Thursday, October 30, 2025
- Difficulty: 3.3 out of 5 (moderate)
This Connections puzzle was themed around Halloween vibes and clever wordplay, blending spooky, sweet, and cultural clues.
🗂️ The 16 Words
PUMPKIN, HORROR, MURDER, MYSTERY, BUTLER, ANGEL, CHARM, FANTASY, BLOOM, SUGAR, PARLIAMENT, LEVY, LOVE, GAGGLE, GUTHRIE, ROMANCE
🟨 Yellow Group – Terms of Endearment
Words: ANGEL, LOVE, PUMPKIN, SUGAR
Theme: Sweet and affectionate nicknames often used for loved ones.
🟩 Green Group – Fiction Genres
Words: FANTASY, HORROR, MYSTERY, ROMANCE
Theme: Popular book genres commonly found in bookstores.
🟦 Blue Group – Collective Nouns for Birds
Words: CHARM, GAGGLE, MURDER, PARLIAMENT
Theme: Specific terms used for groups of birds — a charm of finches, gaggle of geese, murder of crows, and parliament of owls.
🟪 Purple Group – People Whose First Names Are U.S. Cities
Words: BLOOM, BUTLER, GUTHRIE, LEVY
Theme: Famous individuals whose first names are also American city names.
Examples:
- Orlando Bloom – Actor
- Austin Butler – Actor
- Savannah Guthrie – TV host (Today Show)
- Eugene Levy – Actor and comedian
💡 Category Hints
- Yellow: Sweet nicknames or words of affection.
- Green: Fiction categories or book types.
- Blue: Group names for birds in plural form.
- Purple: Famous people whose first names are also names of U.S. cities.
🔍 Puzzle Analysis & Player Impressions
This puzzle carried a light Halloween flavor, mixing affection, genre variety, and clever wordplay. Players found it balanced but tricky in parts.
Difficulty: 3.3 / 5 — generally moderate.
Common Trap: Many players initially tried grouping words like OUIJA BOARD, SPIRIT, SÉANCE, and MEDIUM (not part of this set), showing how convincing the misdirection was.
Toughest Category: The Purple group challenged most solvers since it required recognizing celebrity names tied to city names.
Player Rating: Around 4 / 5 for cleverness and overall enjoyment.
🧠 Strategy Notes
This puzzle showcased the essence of the Connections design:
- Categories overlapped cleverly — for example, CHARM could fit either with romance or birds.
- The purple set used an inventive structure (city as first name + famous surname).
- Easier sets (Yellow and Green) provided momentum before the more abstract ones (Blue and Purple).
- The mix of cultural knowledge and vocabulary kept the solving experience engaging.
Most players breezed through the first three categories but paused longest on Purple, where solving depended on recognizing the link between celebrity names and U.S. cities.
