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Spoiler warning: This is the archived answer guide for Connections puzzle #931, played on Sunday, December 28, 2025. Start with the hints and stop before the full-answer section if you are still solving.
Spoiler warning: This guide gives progressively stronger hints before revealing the categories and all 16 answers to Connections puzzle #931, from Sunday, December 28, 2025. If you are still solving, stop before the section marked “Full answers.”
The December 28 Connections puzzle board
Here are the 16 words exactly as they appeared:
- DUSKY
- SPRING
- STILL
- PERRIER
- BOX
- STATIONARY
- GEAR
- ENVELOPE
- NOODLE
- RATCHET
- TUBE
- STATIC
- PAWL
- CONSTANT
- SOXER
- MAILER
Gentle hints
There are four groups of four words. These clues avoid naming the categories outright:
- One group includes different things that can contain an item being sent through the mail.
- One group describes something that does not move or change.
- One group consists of parts found in a mechanical timepiece.
- The most unusual group becomes clearer if you change the first letter of each word. The results are familiar dog breeds.
Stronger hints
If you need more help, these are the category ideas without the complete word lists:
- Yellow: Mailing and shipping containers.
- Green: Fixed, motionless or unchanging.
- Blue: Parts used in a mechanical watch.
- Purple: Dog breeds after changing the first letter.
Full answers for Connections #931
Stop here if you do not want the solution.
Yellow: Containers for shipping
BOX, ENVELOPE, MAILER, TUBE
These are all containers or mailing formats used to send items. A tube is the less immediately obvious entry, but mailing tubes are commonly used for posters, documents and other items that are easier to ship rolled rather than flat.
Green: Unmoving
CONSTANT, STATIC, STATIONARY, STILL
Each word can describe something fixed, motionless or not changing position. This is a semantic group rather than a set of physical objects.
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Note the spelling STATIONARY, which was one of the puzzle’s entries. It means fixed or not moving. Stationery, with an “e,” refers to writing materials and would have pointed toward the shipping-and-mail theme instead.
Blue: Mechanical watch parts
GEAR, PAWL, RATCHET, SPRING
These words refer to components associated with the workings of a mechanical watch. PAWL is the specialized term that may be unfamiliar: in a mechanical mechanism, a pawl engages with a ratchet to allow or restrict movement. SPRING is the main trap here because it can also suggest a season or a general source of tension.
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Rank #3
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Purple: Dog breeds after changing the first letter
DUSKY, NOODLE, PERRIER, SOXER
Change only the first letter of each entry:
| Puzzle entry | Change the first letter | Dog breed |
|---|---|---|
| DUSKY | D → H | HUSKY |
| NOODLE | N → P | POODLE |
| PERRIER | P → T | TERRIER |
| SOXER | S → B | BOXER |
This is the most indirect group because the original entries do not form an obvious category on their own. Their connection appears only after the initial-letter substitution.
Why this puzzle was tricky
Several entries support tempting but incorrect interpretations:
Rank #4
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- Its A5 size with 160 pages strikes the perfect balance between portability and space, making it convenient for school, office, or on-the-go use.
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- SPRING can describe a season, a coiled component or a source of motion. Here, it belongs with mechanical watch parts.
- TUBE can suggest many hollow objects, but in this grid it is a shipping container.
- NOODLE may seem related to food or to tube-shaped objects. Its real role is as the starting point for POODLE.
- PERRIER may bring bottled water to mind. It becomes TERRIER when its first letter changes.
- STATIONARY can be confused with stationery, which would make the mail-related group look more attractive than it is.
A useful solving order for this board is to start with the most literal group—BOX, ENVELOPE, MAILER and TUBE—or the obvious “not moving” group. Once those are removed, the mechanical vocabulary becomes easier to recognize. For the final four, look for a transformation rather than a shared meaning.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How Connections works
Connections presents 16 words and asks players to divide them into four groups of four. Each group shares a link, but some words are deliberately chosen to fit multiple possible ideas. The game can be played through NYT Games on the web or in its apps, subject to the access and availability offered in your location.
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- Mr. Pen graph spiral journal notebook comes complete with 1 retractable ballpoint pen and 50 sticky tabs, providing a fully equipped set for organized and productive note-taking.
- The notebook is crafted with 100 GSM premium paper, offering a smooth, bleed-resistant surface ideal for pens, pencils, or markers.
- Its A5 size with 160 pages strikes the perfect balance between portability and space, making it convenient for school, office, or on-the-go use.
- The sturdy spiral binding allows the notebook to lay completely flat, ensuring a comfortable writing and sketching experience on every page.
- This versatile set is perfect for students, professionals, and creative individuals, providing a reliable solution for studying, planning, office work, or personal projects.
If you enjoy the format beyond the daily game, a dedicated Connections puzzle book offers more category-matching puzzles to solve offline. It should be treated as additional practice and entertainment—not as a source of puzzle #931 or an archive of these exact answers.
For readers who enjoy several NYT Games, NYT Games puzzle book collections are a broader option: The New York Times Games: Puzzle Mania! includes Connections-related material alongside other game formats, rather than focusing exclusively on daily Connections boards.
Frequently Asked Questions
What were the categories in Connections #931?
The four categories were shipping containers; unmoving; mechanical watch parts; and dog breeds after changing the first letter. The dog-breed group was DUSKY to HUSKY, NOODLE to POODLE, PERRIER to TERRIER and SOXER to BOXER.
Was the word STATIONARY or STATIONERY?
The word was STATIONARY, meaning fixed or not moving. It was not STATIONERY, the word for writing materials.
The Bottom Line
The answers to Connections #931, played December 28, 2025, were BOX, ENVELOPE, MAILER, TUBE for shipping containers; CONSTANT, STATIC, STATIONARY, STILL for unmoving; GEAR, PAWL, RATCHET, SPRING for mechanical watch parts; and DUSKY, NOODLE, PERRIER, SOXER, which become dog breeds when their first letters are changed.
Quick Recap
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