On Dec. 25, 2025, at 6:00 a.m. ET, The New York Times Games published Connections Companion No. 929 to accompany the Dec. 26, 2025 Connections puzzle. The companion summarized the day’s solutions and provided spoiler warnings, hints and community guidance for solvers worldwide. Testers rated the puzzle 2.7 out of 5 for difficulty, and the companion revealed one word from each color group, including MOVIE EXEC (yellow), BUDDY (green), AMERICA (blue) and the trickier WIDOW (purple). Players were reminded that Connections publishes at midnight in each time zone and that there are two daily companions keyed to Eastern Standard Time.
Key Takeaways
- The companion is numbered 929 and was posted on Dec. 25, 2025, at 6:00 a.m. ET by The New York Times Games team; credit is given to Calum Heath.
- Connections for Dec. 26, 2025, was rated 2.7 out of 5 by the editorial testing team, indicating below-moderate difficulty.
- One reveal was provided per color: Yellow — MOVIE EXEC (straightforward); Green — BUDDY; Blue — AMERICA; Purple — WIDOW (marked tricky).
- Connections puzzles appear at midnight local time; to serve time-zone differences the site runs two daily companions dated by Eastern Standard Time.
- The companion encourages community participation: solvers can post their grids in comments and compare scores and editor ratings.
- Readers are directed to related Times puzzle offerings and the Games team’s social channels for additional tips and behind-the-scenes items.
Background
Connections is a daily word-grouping game published by The New York Times Games that challenges players to sort 16 words into four thematic categories. The Times issues a short companion each day (the “Connections Companion”) explaining hints, offering a spoiler warning and noting the editorial difficulty rating. The companion for puzzle No. 929 follows the standard practice of revealing one word per color to help solvers who want partial guidance without full solutions.
To accommodate global players, Connections releases puzzles at local midnight and provides two companions daily that are dated according to Eastern Standard Time, ensuring a consistent reference for editors and an archive for readers. The Times’ testing team solves puzzles in advance and assigns a difficulty score; that metadata helps regular players judge whether to attempt a puzzle fresh or consult the companion. The companion also cross-promotes other Times puzzles and the Games team’s social accounts for additional community interaction.
Main Event
The Dec. 26 companion identified the revealed words across the four color categories and labeled the purple category as the most challenging. The yellow hint—MOVIE EXEC—was described as straightforward, signaling a fairly direct thematic grouping in that slot. The green and blue categories received single-word reveals (BUDDY and AMERICA), while the purple category, flagged as tricky, included WIDOW as the revealed hint. These reveals are intended to nudge solvers without giving away every grouping.
Editors also reminded readers that posting a completed grid in the comments is a way to compare performance; the companion invites readers to see how their score lines up with the editorial rating and with other solvers. The piece emphasized the dual role of the companion: to offer help for those who want it while preserving the challenge for players who prefer to solve unaided. Additionally, the companion linked to the Times’ broader games ecosystem—Crosswords, The Mini and other titles—to encourage cross-engagement.
The article reiterated two operational details: the companion’s numbering (No. 929) for archival reference, and the timing practice of releasing two companions each day dated by Eastern Standard Time to cover all global time zones. This logistical transparency helps solvers locate the correct companion if they encounter multiple entries with similar dates across time zones. Finally, the companion referenced the Times testing process and directed readers seeking deeper difficulty analysis to the Connections Bot tool used by the team.
Analysis & Implications
At a 2.7/5 rating, the Dec. 26 puzzle falls into the easier half of the Times’ difficulty scale, which may affect daily engagement patterns: some regular solvers prefer harder puzzles for a challenge, while casual players are more likely to complete an easier offering. Editorial difficulty scores serve both as calibration for readers and as feedback for puzzle constructors about balance between accessibility and complexity. When a puzzle skews easier, completion rates and social sharing often rise, but more advanced solvers may be less compelled to consult the companion.
The practice of revealing one word per color strikes a balance between assistance and preservation of the puzzle experience. For the Times’ product strategy, this approach sustains community involvement—comment threads, social sharing and cross-promotion to other games—while limiting outright spoilage. It also reduces the editorial burden of providing fully worked solutions immediately, allowing the companion to function as a moderated hint system rather than a step-by-step answer key.
Time-zone handling—publishing at local midnight and dating companions by Eastern Standard Time—responds to a global audience but introduces complexity for archiving and user navigation. The dual-companion system minimizes confusion but requires explicit instructions so readers can locate the correct companion for their puzzle instance. Continued clarity on dating and indexing will be important as the Games audience grows internationally.
Comparison & Data
| Category | Revealed Word | Flag |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | MOVIE EXEC | Straightforward |
| Green | BUDDY | Standard |
| Blue | AMERICA | Standard |
| Purple | WIDOW | Tricky |
The table above lists the four revealed hint words and the editorial flags attached to each color. Revealed words give solvers a foothold: yellow’s straightforward marker suggests an obvious semantic grouping, while purple’s tricky flag indicates a less direct association. Editors and players commonly use these cues to decide whether to attempt a fresh solve or consult additional help. Over time, patterns in which colors are labeled tricky help inform puzzle constructors about which semantic groupings consistently challenge solvers.
Reactions & Quotes
Readers and editors offered immediate, concise responses to the companion and its hints. The quotes below capture official caution and the testing team’s numerical rating, each presented with situational context.
The companion explicitly warns solvers that the page contains spoilers and advises solving before continuing.
New York Times Games (official companion)
The testing team gave the puzzle a 2.7 out of 5, a figure included in the companion to help readers gauge expected difficulty.
NYT Games testing team
Unconfirmed
- Reports of alternative valid groupings beyond the canonical four are occasionally mentioned in comments but have not been formally verified by the Times testing team.
- Any community claims about irregularities in scoring or timing have not been independently confirmed and require direct validation from NYT Games.
Bottom Line
The Connections Companion No. 929 for Dec. 26, 2025, provides a clear, measured set of hints—one per color—while preserving the puzzle for players who prefer no spoilers. The editorial difficulty of 2.7/5 positions the puzzle as relatively accessible, likely boosting completion and social sharing among casual solvers while offering modest engagement for experienced players.
Operationally, the companion reinforces two key practices: publishing puzzles at local midnight and running two daily companions dated by Eastern Standard Time to serve global players. For solvers who want to dig deeper, the Times points to its broader games ecosystem and testing tools; for everyone else, the companion remains a concise, trustworthy waypoint between pure play and full solutions.