The New York Times Connections puzzle #927, released on December 24, 2025, offered players a mix of straightforward and tricky categories. Known for its word-association gameplay, Connections asks solvers to group 16 words into four sets of four based on shared themes. With its Christmas Eve release, puzzle editor Wyna Liu crafted a grid that balanced humor, knowledge, and clever misdirection.
How the Game Works
Players must divide the grid into four groups, each color-coded by difficulty:
- Yellow: Easiest, often literal or obvious.
- Green: Slightly trickier, requiring synonyms or related actions.
- Blue: Moderately challenging, often involving specific knowledge.
- Purple: Hardest, usually wordplay or abstract connections.
Each puzzle allows up to four mistakes before revealing the solution, making strategy and careful grouping essential.
Hints for Puzzle #927
Today’s puzzle was described as “kind of tough, but also fun.” The categories included:
- Yellow: Slang terms for money.
- Green: Verbs related to chewing or biting food.
- Blue: Types of fish.
- Purple: Musical vocalization verbs with an extra letter added.
Decoys like WHISTLER (not an artist today) and CHAMP (not a champion but a verb) added complexity.
Full Solution Breakdown
Here are the four groups for December 24, 2025:
- Yellow (Slang for Money): BACON, BREAD, CHEESE, PAPER
- Green (Masticate): BITE, CHAMP, CHEW, MUNCH
- Blue (Fish): CHAR, POLLOCK, SOLE, TANG
- Purple (Musical Wordplay): HUMP, RAPT, SINGE, WHISTLER
The yellow group was the easiest to spot, with familiar slang like “bring home the bacon” and “let’s get this bread.” The green chewing verbs were straightforward once CHAMP was recognized as “chomp.” The fish group required specific knowledge, while the purple group demanded wordplay skills, adding letters to base verbs like HUM, RAP, and SING.
Difficulty and Community Buzz
Sources like TechRadar and Lifehacker noted puzzle #927 was moderately challenging, with average solve times of 8–12 minutes. The yellow and green groups were quick wins, while the fish and wordplay categories tripped up casual players. Social media buzz highlighted the clever misdirection, with many solvers posting their colored grids and celebrating the “aha!” moment when the purple group clicked.
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow’s puzzle (#928, December 25, 2025) promises a fresh challenge for Christmas Day. Players can prepare by practicing past puzzles in the NYT Games archive and sharing their grids online to join the global community of solvers.
