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Today's All-Symbol NYT Connections Answer Feels Like an April Fool's Joke

April...Fool? Here's the answer to April Fool's tricky Connections puzzle for April 1, #660.

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Headshot of Gael Cooper
Gael Cooper
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.
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New York Times Connections word game logo on a phone

Read on for the Connections answer.

 James Martin/CNET

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today's Connections puzzle feels like an April Fool's Day prank. The grid is filled with symbols or single letters, no words. Many of them are recognizable, but some of them threw me for a loop (especially the single letters), and they might confuse you too. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers.

april1connectionsbeforeplay-1

The April 1, 2025 NYT Connections puzzle is all symbols, and could be tricky. We've got the answers.

 NYT/Screenshot by CNET

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 registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including 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: It's all about the Benjamins.

Green group hint: Combined.

Blue group hint: Cartoony faces.

Purple group hint: Not left.

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Currency symbols.

Green group: And/together with.

Blue group: Emoticon mouths.

Purple group: "Right."

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today's Connections answers?

completed NYT Connections puzzle for April 1 2025 #660

The completed NYT Connections puzzle for April 1, 2025, #660.

 NYT/Screenshot by CNET

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is currency symbols. The four answers are $, £, ¥ and €. (Dollar sign, pound sign, yen and euro.)

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is and/together with. The four answers are &, +, N and X.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is emoticon mouths. The four answers are (. ), O and P.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is "right." The four answers are R, →, ⊾ and ✓

Connections April Fools symbols explained

Yellow category -- currency theme:

  • $: dollar sign, for the currency used in the US and in various other nations, like Canada (CA$) and Australia (AU$).
  • £: pound sign, for the currency used in the UK and various other territories, like Guernsey and Jersey.
  • ¥: yen sign, for the currency used in Japan.
  • €: euro sign, for the currency used in 20 countries in the European Union.

Green category -- "and" theme:

  • &: an ampersand symbol, which means "and."
  • +: a plus sign, which here means "and" or "in addition to."
  • N: the letter N, which is used in slang to mean "and."
  • X: the letter X, which is used to signify two things being combined.

Blue category -- emoticon/emoji mouth theme:

  • ( : a left bracket, used for signifying a sad face when preceded by a colon in ye olde emoticon language.
  • ) : a right bracket, used for signifying a happy emoticon face when preceded by a colon.
  • O : the letter O, which was used for a surprised or shocked emoticon face when preceded by a colon.
  • P : the letter P, which was used for a silly, tongue-out emoticon face when preceded by a colon.

Purple category -- right theme:

  • R: the letter R, which was here used to signify the direction "right."
  • →: a right-pointing arrow.
  • ⊾: a right angle.
  • ✓: a checkmark signifying that you're "right," or correct.

Quick tips for Connections

#1: Say the clue words out loud, pausing before and after each. That helps you hear the words in the context of a phrase. The Connections editors love to group words together that are used in similar phrasing, like ____ Up.

#2: Don't go for the obvious grouping. These editors are smart. Once, they offered SPONGE, BOB, SQUARE and PANTS in the same puzzle. None of those words were in the same category. If you like, hit the "shuffle" button to give yourself a different perspective on the words.

#3: Break down any compound words and look for similarities. "Rushmore" was once in a puzzle where the connection was that each word started with the name of a rock band.