Puzzle number 1,204 of The New York Times’ Connections game closed out the weekend Sunday with a grid mixing sculpture materials, restaurant seating options, telecom vocabulary and a wordplay category built around the endings of Chinese dynasty names, a combination puzzle guides described as playful but carrying more hidden traps than it first appeared.

Connections presents players with 16 words that must be sorted into four hidden groups of four, with each group sharing a common category. The puzzle rates each group’s difficulty using a color system: yellow for the most straightforward connection, green for slightly trickier, blue for more difficult, and purple, typically the most wordplay-heavy or misleading group, as the hardest.

For those still working through Sunday’s puzzle, here are hints for each category, organized loosely from easiest to hardest, without giving away the specific words involved.

One category groups together materials commonly used to create sculptures, the kind of vocabulary an art student or gallery visitor would recognize immediately. A second category brings together different types of seating options a host or server might offer at a restaurant, ranging from a communal booth to a simple stool. A third category groups together words associated with telecommunications, the kind of terminology used to describe a phone service provider or wireless network. The fourth and trickiest category takes ordinary-looking words and phrases and reveals a hidden connection at the end of each one, tied to the names of historical Chinese dynasties.

SPOILER WARNING: The full solution to Sunday’s Connections puzzle follows below. Stop reading now if you’d rather work through the categories on your own.

Sunday’s puzzle resolved into the following four groups. The yellow category, Sculpture Media, consisted of BRONZE, CLAY, MARBLE and PLASTER, four materials commonly used by sculptors to create three-dimensional artwork. The green category, Restaurant Seating Options, grouped BANQUETTE, BOOTH, CHAIR and STOOL, four types of seating a diner might encounter at a restaurant. The blue category, Telecom, brought together CARRIER, NETWORK, OPERATOR and PROVIDER, four terms associated with telecommunications and phone or internet service. The purple category, Ending in Chinese Dynasties, consisted of BBQING, HOMING, LOHAN and WU-TANG, four words and names that each conceal the name of a historical Chinese dynasty at their end, including the Qing, Ming, Han and Tang dynasties.

Puzzle guides covering Sunday’s grid described it as deceptively gentle at first glance, with one reviewer noting there were surprisingly few obvious red herrings planted among the 16 words, a departure from the misdirection Connections puzzles often build into their harder categories. That same reviewer admitted to briefly wondering whether actor Lindsay Lohan had any thematic connection to the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan before recognizing the actual hidden-dynasty wordplay linking the two names together in the purple category. Forbes contributor Erik Kain rated Sunday’s puzzle a 1 out of 5 on the Connections Bot difficulty scale, one of the easier ratings a puzzle can receive, even while acknowledging the purple category’s wordplay took him a moment longer to piece together than the other three groups.

Connections has grown into one of the Times’ most consistently played daily puzzles since its official launch in 2023, expanding the newspaper’s games portfolio well beyond its traditional crossword offerings. Puzzle guides recommend a general strategy of scanning the full grid first for any words that seem to share an obvious connection, then working through the remaining words methodically to identify less immediately apparent categories, an approach that worked well for Sunday’s grid given how distinctly separate its four categories were from one another in subject matter.

Sunday’s puzzle release also coincided with the broader expansion of the New York Times’ word game portfolio, which now includes Connections: Sports Edition, a companion puzzle produced in partnership with The Athletic that challenges players to find hidden links between sports-related terms, following the same core format as the original Connections game but built around athletic themes instead.

Players attempting Sunday’s puzzle are permitted up to four incorrect guesses before the game ends, with each group color-coded upon a correct guess to indicate which of the four difficulty tiers it belongs to. Players looking to track their performance on Sunday’s puzzle, or compare notes with friends, can share their results through Connections’ built-in results screen, which uses colored emoji squares to display a player’s guessing sequence without revealing the actual category words, a sharable format that has become a familiar sight across social media in the years since the game’s launch.

With Sunday’s puzzle now solved, players will have a fresh set of 16 words and four new hidden categories to work through when Monday’s edition of Connections goes live at midnight local time, continuing the daily puzzle’s steady run as one of the Times’ most widely shared games alongside Wordle, Strands and the Mini Crossword.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry has agreed to a two-year, $116 million contract extension, tying the franchise legend to the only organization he has ever played for through his 20th NBA season, league sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Friday.

The deal includes a player option for the final season, covering 2028-29, according to those sources. The extension pushes Curry’s career on-court earnings to $652 million, making him the first player in NBA history to surpass $600 million in career salary.

Curry had been eligible since August 29 to sign an extension worth up to two years and $136.7 million, the full maximum available to him under the league’s salary cap rules. The Warriors presented Curry with several contract options in recent weeks, including the possibility of waiting to sign, but Curry ultimately chose a modest pay cut and long-term security over either the full maximum contract or the uncertainty of delaying his decision for additional flexibility or information, according to team sources.

Under the new deal, Curry’s salary will decline from his current $62.6 million to $55.7 million for the 2027-28 season, followed by a player option worth $60.2 million for 2028-29. That structure is expected to provide the Warriors with approximately $10 million in additional projected salary cap space next summer, positioning the team to be a more significant participant in free agency or the trade market over the coming year.

Golden State’s broader salary cap picture is shaped by several other expiring contracts alongside Curry’s new deal. Both Jimmy Butler III, on a contract worth $56.8 million, and Draymond Green, at $27.6 million, have deals expiring next summer. Veteran center Kristaps Porzingis has only $3 million of his $20 million salary guaranteed for next season. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, those combined factors could leave the Warriors with somewhere between $38 million and a projected $55 million in cap space, depending on how the team handles Brandin Podziemski’s own extension eligibility; Podziemski, who has not yet signed an extension, carries a $17 million cap hold heading into next summer.

Curry took nearly a month to weigh his options, deciding among signing for his full maximum salary, accepting a modest pay cut, or waiting before committing to a new deal. Speaking to ESPN earlier this week, before finalizing his decision, Curry described the complexity of weighing those competing considerations. “We’re in a very interesting situation,” Curry said. “All the different salary cap conditions of whether I sign for a max or less or whatever it is, I want to be on a competitive team. I want to have an opportunity to have some flexibility because we haven’t had that in years past, the recent past. … This team should have flexibility to make necessary moves if things happen. Those are always just the considerations.”

Curry elaborated further on the broader context shaping his decision, pointing to both his own career stage and the team’s competitive urgency. “For me, information and patience is key,” he said. “It’s just a very unique situation all the way around based on where we’ve been the last four years, where I’m at in my career, what our team looks like this year and the absolute desperation to win. Trying to balance all that.”

Curry, who has said he wanted “no drama” surrounding his contract negotiations heading into training camp, ultimately settled on the pay cut and security just three days before the Warriors’ first practice of the season, resolving any lingering uncertainty about his future with the franchise before camp began.

The 39-year-old guard missed 39 games last season due to a persistent right knee issue, but said he feels physically ready heading into the new campaign. “The idea of getting back to work is exciting,” Curry said. “I feel like I’ve taken advantage of the offseason. I feel like there’s no hesitation about where I’m at physically going in. … But I’m excited about getting back to work.”

Curry’s decision to accept a reduced salary in exchange for greater roster flexibility reflects a broader pattern seen among some of the league’s most accomplished veteran stars in recent seasons, as players increasingly weigh the value of maximizing team competitiveness against securing the largest possible individual contract, particularly late in their careers when opportunities to win championships may be more limited.

With Curry’s extension now in place and the Warriors entering the season with a clearer picture of their salary cap situation for the coming years, the team is positioned to pursue additional roster upgrades over the next 12 months, even as questions remain about how Golden State will ultimately address the expiring contracts held by Butler, Green and Porzingis, and how Podziemski’s own extension situation will factor into the team’s broader financial planning.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, remains missing nearly eight months after her disappearance from her Tucson home, as investigators continue processing tens of thousands of tips and an unverified online claim about an FBI search near her daughter’s neighborhood has generated fresh public attention.

Nancy was last seen at her home on the night of January 31 and was reported missing the following day, after having had dinner earlier that evening with her daughter, Annie Guthrie. Authorities say Tommaso Cioni, Annie’s husband, brought Nancy home following that dinner, making the couple among the last people known to have seen her before her disappearance. Authorities have since said they believe Nancy was taken from her home by force.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said investigators have received approximately 40,000 to 50,000 tips over the course of the investigation, alongside ongoing DNA analysis, review of surveillance footage and examination of electronic evidence, with laboratories across the country assisting in the forensic work. No suspect has been publicly identified as of the most recent update.

Despite persistent online speculation surrounding Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni given their proximity to Nancy on the night of her disappearance, Sheriff Nanos has said the broader Guthrie family, including siblings and their spouses, has been cleared as suspects and has cooperated fully with investigators throughout the case.

The latest wave of online attention stems from a claim made by Jonathan Lee Riches, who identifies himself online as an investigator using the handle JLR. Riches asserted that the FBI searched an area near where Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni live while looking for a discarded prepaid phone, a claim he connected to ransom communications sent after Nancy was reported missing. In a separate post, Riches wrote that “it appears the person used a prepaid smartphone to send the electronic Nancy Guthrie ransom notes.” Neither claim has been independently confirmed by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department or any other official source, and authorities have separately said the ransom notes connected to the case have been determined to be fabricated.

A separate unverified claim involving a purported sighting of Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni, reported by a tipster from North Carolina, has also circulated online without confirmation from law enforcement regarding either the sighting itself or any connection to Nancy’s disappearance.

Retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer has continued offering her own public analysis of the case, advancing what she has described as a “wrench ring” theory suggesting the complexity of the investigation points toward experienced, organized operators rather than isolated individual suspects. Coffindaffer has questioned why investigators and digital forensic experts have reportedly struggled to trace ransom-related emails or cryptocurrency trails connected to the case, suggesting that organized groups involved in cryptocurrency-related extortion often rely on advanced anonymization techniques that make digital tracing considerably more difficult. She has also pointed to similarities between communications sent to media outlets in this case and patterns seen in other known extortion cases as a possible sign of a broader operational pattern. Separately, Coffindaffer dismissed continued speculation surrounding the unidentified “Porch Guy,” referring to him dismissively as “a mope” and suggesting that larger criminal organizers may remain hidden behind lower-level individuals, a term she used to describe what is known in law enforcement circles as a “wrench attack,” in which suspects use violence or coercion to force victims to disclose passwords or other sensitive information.

The investigation’s timeline shows a case that has continued expanding in scope since Nancy’s disappearance was first reported. Police launched a large search operation in early February, with the FBI joining the investigation shortly after. Surveillance footage from the surrounding area was collected during the first week of February, and a masked individual seen near Nancy’s home was flagged in mid-February before later being ruled unrelated to the case. Genetic genealogy testing was introduced in March to help analyze unidentified DNA samples, and by April and May, the investigation had expanded to include thousands of videos gathered from traffic cameras and home security systems, still without identifying a suspect. A second ransom note connected to the case emerged in reports in June, and in July, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department publicly released redacted versions of the ransom notes in hopes of identifying their author. Public attention intensified further on August 17, when human remains were discovered in a desert area roughly 15 miles from Nancy’s home, though authorities said the following day that there was no indication the remains were connected to her disappearance, noting they appeared to have been at the location for an extended period predating her disappearance.

As the investigation approaches its eighth month, law enforcement continues examining forensic evidence, tips and footage, while Nancy’s whereabouts remain unknown. The scale of information gathered in the case has produced both potentially valuable leads and a considerable volume of unconfirmed online speculation, underscoring the continued need to distinguish confirmed statements from investigators, including Sheriff Nanos’ own public updates, from the unverified theories and claims that have continued to circulate widely across social media throughout the case.

Adam Kirby is co-founder and CEO of EvaluateLocate, a London geospatial AI company training its own models to predict how places across the UK change over time.

In August 2025 the business closed a £300,000 seed round from angel investors under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, at a reported £2.75m valuation, and launched its UK subscription app, powered by its proprietary GSP-1 model and more than 100 location metrics. Kirby, a physics graduate, founded the company in 2024 with Duncan Lamb after the pair spotted how little attention investment proposals paid to location. He tells Business Matters why AI needs to think in space and time, what Thomas Edison taught him and why starting a business is always harder than you expect.

What do you currently do at EvaluateLocate?

I run a company building a new type of “spatial intelligence”: an AI that thinks naturally in space and time to predict how any place on Earth changes and evolves.

This ambition is part of an important next trend in AI: going beyond language-based intelligence. We are also a rare breed of European startups training our own models rather than purely building on top of outputs from American firms. Our first model, GSP-1, powers our UK app, which rates places on more than 100 metrics.

My role covers everything from leading research on our proprietary AI architecture to overseeing the operations of the business and supporting the team sharing our latest capabilities with clients. On an average day I might be deep in code, updating investors, talking to a housebuilder or retailer about site selection, or speaking to a local government about how economic growth is trending in their region.

What was the inspiration behind your business?

Whether or not the decision is literally about a building, bridge or piece of land, or whether a transaction itself happens online, everything in business and government has major exposure to different people and places. Location is opportunity, risk and differentiator for so many organisations, yet it is so often unmeasured.

Once upon a time my co-founder Duncan Lamb and I were reading an investment proposal worth tens of millions. This was from a well-known investment organisation, in our previous roles with the asset management industry. There were pages and pages on the building and its tenants, but half a paragraph of vague text on the surrounding area.

I suggested we should create a system to continuously measure that “location factor”. The rest was, if not history, then certainly a quest. Then it became a system, a codebase, eventually a company, and now a novel family of spatial AI models.

My love of a map and a technical challenge combined with Duncan’s knowledge of the people and businesses who have enormous value riding on location decisions.

Who do you admire?

Thomas Edison is a distant relative as well as a general inspiration. While you might know him for his hits such as the lightbulb, I admire two particular aspects of Edison.

First, he used the almost total deafness he had lived with since childhood as an advantage to concentrate better, not accepting that it should slow him down. Second, he had a seemingly unlimited capacity for new ideas, and when most failed he just kept going. Edison seemed to see further ahead than anyone else, researching efficient rechargeable car batteries in the 1890s.

Speaking of cars, Ron Dennis, who led McLaren for three decades, is a local hero where I live in Woking, and often a more practical type of engineer than Edison. Alongside an infamous attention to technical detail, he is admirable for managing a company from challenger to behemoth.

Back to family connections, I admire my own child, who helps me see the world with all the curiosity of a Thomas Edison or a three-year-old looking for frogs.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?

Start sooner, go faster, be bolder.

That said, if we started again with the answers from our apparent mistakes, we might never learn the right questions.

What defines your way of doing business?

Internally we have a mantra of “truth, trust, grit”, which is my best attempt to capture in words what motivates me: the kind of team and technology we are building, and the kind of service we provide to our clients.

Truth means we are honest with each other, obviously. But it also relates to what our product does: we are aiming for a way to measure reality on the ground as closely as possible, with practical metrics that describe real places. It sets us apart slightly from language models that can claim something different every time. That is not what we do. Trust is similar, and it is basically the personal responsibility we have to each other and to our clients in the same respect.

Grit is what is required to achieve the other two, but it also sums up what I describe as “never walking past a problem”. It could be a dirty cup left on a desk (hello, Ron Dennis) or it might be a piece of code or marketing copy that just does not look right. It is the responsibility of everyone to look out for each other and the shared mission.

More prosaically, I believe in a ruthless attention to detail when it comes to the work itself, but the kindest attention to your colleagues.

What advice would you give to someone starting out?

I have learnt again and again that starting a business is harder than you expect. And then harder again. And then again, just like the rule on budgets and time estimates: even when you account for it being harder than you expect, it is still somehow harder again.

Personally, I think this “optimism bias” is a massive benefit of human nature, because it allows you to do things that might otherwise be irrational. Voting, in terms of personal impact on the result. Signing up for a marathon, in terms of immediate comfort. Starting a family, in terms of finance and sleep. We do these good things anyway. We persevere with them for reasons we  struggle to explain but would never change.

Similarly, starting a business will not make you feel younger, sleep better or get “rich quick”. It changes you in some other, deeper way. Perhaps that is my only real piece of advice: choose an idea you love.