NYT Releases New Puzzles: Connections, Strands, and Pips for September 27

The New York Times released its latest batch of daily puzzles on September 27, 2026, including Connections #1204, Strands #938, and the domino-inspired Pips. The puzzles span themes from skincare to sports, offering free, habit-forming games for a global audience.

NYT Connections: Hints and Answers for Game #1204

On September 27, 2026, the New York Times released its latest Connections puzzle, game #1204. According to TechRadar, the puzzle challenges players to group 16 words into four categories of four words each. The categories for this edition include sculpture media, restaurant seating options, telecom, and endings in Chinese dynasties.

The yellow group, the easiest in the puzzle, focuses on sculpture media and includes the words BRONZE, CLAY, MARBLE, and PLASTER. The green group, slightly more challenging, centers on restaurant seating options with BANQUETTE, BOOTH, CHAIR, and STOOL.

The blue group is themed around telecom and features CARRIER, NETWORK, OPERATOR, and PROVIDER. The purple group, the most difficult, highlights endings in Chinese dynasties—BBQING, HOMING, LOHAN, and WU-TANG.

Players are allowed up to four mistakes before the game ends. The puzzle is available for free on the NYT Games site.

Strands #938: A Skincare-Themed Puzzle

The New York Times also released Strands #938 on September 27, 2026, with a theme centered on beauty and skincare. According to TechRadar, the puzzle’s spangram— a special word that spans the board—is BEAUTYCARE.

The answers for this edition include SUNSCREEN, MOISTURIZER, CLEANSER, SERUM, and TONER. Players described the puzzle as relatively easy, with some achieving a "Perfect" score. Like other NYT games, Strands is updated daily and is available for free on the NYT Games site.

Connections: Sports Edition #731

The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle #731, released on September 27, 2026, is tailored for sports enthusiasts. According to Mashable, this edition was developed in collaboration with The Athletic, the New York Times’ sports coverage platform.

The puzzle includes 16 words divided into four color-coded groups, with yellow as the easiest and purple as the most challenging. Categories for this edition feature MLB Playoff Rounds, MLB Home Cities, Denver Broncos, and Oregon Football. Players are given up to four mistakes before the game ends.

Pips: A Domino-Inspired Daily Game

The New York Times introduced Pips in August 2025, and it has since become a daily fixture in its gaming portfolio. According to Mashable, the game is inspired by dominoes but incorporates unique color-coded conditions that add layers of strategy.

Pips offers three difficulty levels: easy, medium, and hard. Each puzzle provides specific conditions for solving. For example, the September 27, 2026, easy-level puzzle required placing a 3-3 tile horizontally and a 3-4 tile vertically under the "Equal (3)" condition. The game is free to play and available on the NYT Games site.

The medium and hard levels introduce more complex conditions. The medium puzzle for September 27 included an "Equal (0)" requirement with a 3-0 tile and a 0-0 tile, while the hard puzzle required tiles summing to 9, such as a 4-4 tile and a 5-0 tile placed vertically.

NYT Games: A Growing Portfolio

The New York Times has expanded its digital gaming offerings in recent years, with popular titles like Wordle, Spelling Bee, Connections, and Strands attracting millions of daily players. These games are designed to be accessible, habit-forming, and engaging, often serving as a gateway to broader NYT subscriptions.

The Connections: Sports Edition leverages The Athletic’s expertise to cater to sports fans, while Pips introduces a fresh twist on classic domino mechanics. The games are updated daily, ensuring a steady stream of content for players worldwide.

What this means

LazyFounders analysis — our interpretation, not reported fact.

For founders and operators in the digital gaming and media space, the New York Times’ expanding portfolio of daily puzzles highlights a successful model for user engagement and retention. These games—simple to learn but challenging to master—create habit-forming experiences that drive consistent traffic and subscription conversions. The introduction of niche variants like Connections: Sports Edition (in partnership with The Athletic) shows how bundling content with existing audience touchpoints can deepen engagement without requiring massive product overhauls.

The success of Pips, a domino-inspired game with color-coded rules, also underscores the value of iterative innovation. By repurposing familiar mechanics with slight twists, the Times keeps its offering fresh while minimizing onboarding friction. For startups, this approach is a reminder that incremental innovation—rather than reinventing the wheel—can be a cost-effective way to retain and grow an audience.

Key takeaways

• NYT Connections and its sports-themed variant group words into color-coded categories, with four mistakes allowed per game.
• Strands #938 focuses on skincare, with the spangram BEAUTYCARE and answers like SUNSCREEN and MOISTURIZER.
• Pips, the newest NYT game, is domino-based with color-coded conditions and three difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard).
• Connections: Sports Edition is tailored for sports fans, featuring MLB and NFL-related categories.
• All games are free to play on the NYT Games site, with new puzzles released daily.

FAQ

What are the categories in NYT Connections #1204?

The categories in Connections #1204 include sculpture media (BRONZE, CLAY, MARBLE, PLASTER), restaurant seating options (BANQUETTE, BOOTH, CHAIR, STOOL), telecom (CARRIER, NETWORK, OPERATOR, PROVIDER), and endings in Chinese dynasties (BBQING, HOMING, LOHAN, WU-TANG).

How does NYT Strands #938 work?

Strands #938 focuses on skincare, with the spangram BEAUTYCARE. Players must find words like SUNSCREEN, MOISTURIZER, CLEANSER, SERUM, and TONER. The goal is to uncover all words and the spangram to complete the puzzle.

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

Connections: Sports Edition is a variant of the Connections game tailored for sports fans. It features categories related to MLB, NFL, and college football, such as MLB Playoff Rounds and Denver Broncos. The game is developed in partnership with The Athletic.

How does Pips differ from traditional dominoes?

Pips is inspired by dominoes but includes color-coded conditions that dictate how tiles must be placed. For example, some areas require matching numbers, while others impose sums or specific orientations. The game offers three difficulty levels: easy, medium, and hard.

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