For fans of clever wordplay and daily mental challenges, few games have caught fire like NYT Connections. As the year winds down, the game’s popularity shows no signs of slowing, with December delivering a string of memorable puzzles that have kept players guessing, second-guessing, and—let’s be honest—sometimes grumbling in frustration. On December 26, 2025, puzzle #929 landed with a fresh set of categories that sparked plenty of discussion, while just two days earlier, puzzle #927 offered its own unique twists. Let’s dive into how these puzzles work, what made these particular days stand out, and why so many are hooked on this daily ritual.
According to Lifehacker, the December 26 edition of NYT Connections offered a blend of pop culture, wordplay, and a dash of misdirection. The puzzle, numbered #929, featured four distinct categories, each with its own level of difficulty—yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and then the notoriously tricky purple. The sixteen words for that day were: MOVIE EXEC, PANTHER, FRIDAY, AMERICA, WIDOW, BUDDY, JOURNEY, SURFER, CRINGE, FOREST, TECH BRO, CHICAGO, STONER, FOREIGNER, SCREWBALL, and VALLEY GIRL.
Each category in the December 26 puzzle was carefully crafted to challenge different types of thinking. The yellow group—often considered the most straightforward—was themed “California-based character tropes.” This group included MOVIE EXEC, SURFER, TECH BRO, and VALLEY GIRL. These are all stereotypes you might encounter in stories set on the West Coast, from laid-back surfers to ambitious tech entrepreneurs. As Lifehacker pointed out, “Cher from Clueless is a quintessential example of a stereotypical VALLEY GIRL.” The inclusion of MOVIE EXEC and TECH BRO added a modern twist to the mix, reflecting California’s dual identity as both the home of Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
The green group took a comedic turn, with the category “Comedy subgenres.” Here, BUDDY, CRINGE, SCREWBALL, and STONER were the chosen words. Fans of movies like Dumb and Dumber or Pineapple Express would instantly recognize these as classic comedy archetypes—buddy comedies focus on dynamic duos, cringe comedies revel in awkwardness, screwball comedies deliver rapid-fire banter, and stoner comedies, well, speak for themselves. As the Lifehacker article noted, “The line between movies like Dumb and Dumber and Pineapple Express, for example. (They're both comedies, but there's more to it.)”
The blue group, meanwhile, appealed to music lovers with the theme “’70s rock bands.” The four words—AMERICA, CHICAGO, FOREIGNER, and JOURNEY—are all names of iconic bands that dominated radio airwaves in the 1970s. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” is still a karaoke staple, while Chicago, America, and Foreigner each brought their own distinct sound to the era. For those who grew up with these bands, the connection was a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
But it was the purple group that truly separated the casual players from the diehards. The category was “BLACK ___,” and the words were FOREST, FRIDAY, PANTHER, and WIDOW. The trick here was to recognize that each word could be preceded by “Black” to form a familiar phrase or name: Black Forest, Black Friday, Black Panther, and Black Widow. The article from Lifehacker offered a helpful nudge, noting, “Black could actually go before WIDOW, FOREST, PANTHER, and FRIDAY. That’s interesting.”
What makes NYT Connections so addictive? Part of the appeal is the game’s structure. Players are presented with a 4x4 grid of words and must group them into four sets of four, each set sharing a hidden connection. The categories aren’t always obvious, and the designers love to throw in red herrings—words that fit more than one possible group, or that seem to belong together but actually don’t. As Lifehacker explained, “The groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups.”
Strategy becomes key, especially as the difficulty ramps up. Some players prefer to tackle the easiest (yellow) group first to build confidence, while others zero in on the purple group, knowing it’s likely to involve wordplay or a less obvious link. The game allows up to four mistakes before revealing the answers, so there’s a bit of pressure to get it right. The article’s advice? “Look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed ‘Whistler’s Mother,’ you might be on to something.”
Just two days earlier, on December 24, puzzle #927 brought its own set of challenges, as covered by The Economic Times. That day’s groups were: Yellow (Slang for money—Bacon, bread, cheese, paper), Green (Masticate—Bite, champ, chew, munch), Blue (Fish—Char, pollock, sole, tang), and Purple (Ways to vocalize musically plus a letter—Hump, rapt, singe, whistler). The purple group, in particular, tripped up many players with its clever use of wordplay, requiring solvers to notice how adding a letter could change the meaning or create a new word. The publication emphasized, “Purple groups often involve wordplay. These include missing letters, homophones, or added letters.”
Both articles highlight that NYT Connections isn’t just about vocabulary—it’s about thinking outside the box, spotting patterns, and sometimes trusting your gut. The game’s rules are simple: select four words, submit your guess, and see if you’ve found a valid group. Correct guesses clear those words from the grid; incorrect ones count as mistakes. After four errors, the game ends and the answers are revealed. Players can use the shuffle button to rearrange words, which can help break through mental blocks and reveal hidden connections.
The rise of daily word games like Connections speaks to a broader trend—people love a quick, engaging challenge that fits into their morning routine or coffee break. Whether you’re a word nerd, a trivia buff, or just someone looking to sharpen your mind, the game offers a satisfying blend of logic, language, and surprise. And with communities forming online to share hints, swap strategies, and commiserate over tricky categories, the social aspect is just as important as the puzzle itself.
So, if you found yourself scratching your head over “BLACK ___” or struggling to connect “cheese” to “paper” as slang for money, you’re not alone. The beauty of NYT Connections lies in those “aha!” moments—when a pattern clicks into place or a word’s double meaning suddenly becomes clear. With new puzzles dropping daily and plenty of clever twists on the horizon, it’s safe to say this word game phenomenon isn’t going anywhere soon.
