Every day, millions of puzzle enthusiasts flock to the New York Times Games platform, eager to test their wits against a growing catalog of inventive brainteasers. In late August 2025, the Times made headlines again with the release of its latest single-player game, Pips, introducing a fresh twist to the classic dominoes format. As the digital puzzle scene continues to thrive, Pips joins the ranks of beloved titles like Wordle and Connections, each offering a unique challenge—and a devoted fan base hungry for hints, strategies, and community conversation.
Pips, released in August 2025, is the newest addition to the New York Times’s celebrated lineup, and it’s already generating buzz for its innovative approach to the dominoes genre. Unlike traditional dominoes, which rely on matching the number of pips on adjacent tiles, Pips introduces color-coded conditions that must be met for successful tile placement. According to Mashable, these conditions might require the pips in a certain space to add up to a specific number, be all equal, all different, or even less than or greater than a given value. The result is a puzzle that feels familiar yet refreshingly novel, pushing players to think several moves ahead.
The game’s single-player format means you’re not racing against an opponent, but rather against your own logic and deduction skills. For those who find themselves stumped, Pips currently only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing players to move on to the next difficulty level. But, as Mashable points out, resourceful fans have begun sharing piecemeal hints and answers online, helping each other navigate the increasingly complex challenges.
On August 30, 2025, Mashable published a comprehensive guide with hints and solutions for Pips’ Easy, Medium, and Hard levels. For instance, on Easy, a Number (1) space required everything to add up to 1, which could be solved by placing a 1-3 domino vertically and a 1-6 horizontally. On Medium, a Number (6) space could be tackled with a 0-0 domino placed horizontally and a 3-4 vertically, while a Not Equal space demanded that domino halves all be different, leading to combinations like 3-4 vertically and 1-6 horizontally. The Hard level ramped up the challenge: a Number (11) space called for a 6-3 domino vertically, and an Equal (2) space required several dominoes (such as 2-1 vertically or 2-2 horizontally) to ensure all halves showed the number two.
While Pips is the latest craze, it’s far from the only daily puzzle captivating New York Times readers. Connections, another standout, has quickly become a fan favorite since its launch. The game presents players with a grid of sixteen words, challenging them to organize the words into four secret groups based on hidden connections. As Mashable reports, each group is color-coded by difficulty: yellow for the easiest, then green, blue, and finally purple for the most challenging. The puzzle resets every night at midnight, and players are allowed only four mistakes before the game ends—so every guess counts.
On August 31, 2025, Connections offered a particularly tricky set of themes: FIRST APPEARANCE, ONES CELEBRATED WITH HOLIDAYS, FAMOUS POETS, and WHAT 'CARDINAL' MIGHT REFER TO. The answers? For FIRST APPEARANCE, the group included DEBUT, INTRODUCTION, LAUNCH, and PREMIER. ONES CELEBRATED WITH HOLIDAYS brought together MOTHER, PRESIDENT, SAINT PATRICK, and SAINT VALENTINE. The FAMOUS POETS group featured BISHOP, BURNS, LORDE, and POPE, while WHAT 'CARDINAL' MIGHT REFER TO connected BIRD, CLERGY MEMBER, M.L.B. PLAYER, and N.F.L. PLAYER. As the editors note, Connections is designed to be challenging, with words that could fit multiple categories—making that final correct grouping all the more satisfying.
Connections is edited daily by Wyna Liu, who has been with The New York Times puzzle team since 2020. Liu describes the editing process as a blend of creativity and precision: "A few months ago, a new assignment crossed my desk: Create the game boards for Connections, a category matching game that had recently been greenlighted and was in search of an editor. Most of my puzzle experience has been working with crosswords, and I was excited at the chance to try something different. I’ve enjoyed learning how puzzle editing plays out once a game is greenlighted, and seeing how our team fits into a larger ecosystem.” The game’s flexibility and daily variety have made it a mainstay for those seeking a mental workout, and its one-year anniversary was even celebrated with a TikTok from Liu herself, reflecting on her favorite puzzles.
Of course, no roundup of New York Times puzzles would be complete without mentioning Wordle. The viral sensation, which releases a new five-letter word puzzle at midnight local time each day, continues to draw a massive following. On August 31, 2025, the Wordle puzzle was rated as moderately challenging, with an average difficulty of 4.4 guesses out of 6, according to the Wordle Review. The review, published on August 30, 2025, offers a blend of hints, difficulty ratings, and community discussion, fostering a lively conversation among solvers. The review also highlights a featured artist, Ryan Hartley Smith, whose illustrations—often depicting people dancing through everyday life—bring a touch of humanity and artistry to the daily puzzle experience.
Smith, based in New York City, is known for blending historical research and community engagement into his work, creating utopian yet grounded visions. His art has received accolades from the Society of Illustrators and support from institutions like the Norman Rockwell Museum. As an associate professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Smith’s influence extends beyond the page, shaping the next generation of illustrators.
What ties these games together is not just the thrill of solving, but the sense of community they foster. Whether it’s sharing hints for Pips, debating tricky Connections themes, or swapping Wordle strategies in the comments section, players are united by a shared love of puzzles—and a healthy dose of daily competition. The New York Times has capitalized on this, building out a robust games hub that now includes classics like Mahjong, Sudoku, and crosswords alongside its newer hits.
For those seeking a daily mental challenge, the options have never been richer. Pips offers a dominoes-inspired logic puzzle with a colorful twist; Connections tests your ability to spot subtle patterns and groupings; and Wordle remains the gold standard for quick, satisfying wordplay. Each game resets at midnight, giving everyone a fresh start—and, perhaps, a shot at bragging rights in the morning group chat.
As the puzzle landscape evolves, the New York Times shows no signs of slowing down. With passionate editors, creative artists, and a vibrant community of solvers, the daily ritual of tackling a new puzzle has become more than just a pastime—it’s a way to connect, unwind, and sharpen the mind, one clue at a time.
