NYT Connections Answers: The New York Times’ daily word game, Connections, is back with a fresh puzzle for Thursday, January 22. As always, players are given 16 words and asked to sort them into four hidden groups. It sounds easy, but the tricky word choices can quickly confuse even regular players.
Like Wordle, Connections refreshes every day and has become a favourite for people who love short brain challenges. If today’s grid felt confusing, don’t worry, everything you need is right here.
What Is Connections & How Do You Play?
Connections is a simple-looking word game with a clever twist. You see 16 words on the screen. Your goal is to place them into four groups of four. Each group shares a common theme.
For example, “Hook,” “Nana,” “Peter,” and “Wendy” are all Peter Pan characters. Another example is “Action,” “Ballpark,” “Go,” and “Stick,” which all come before the word “Figure.”
The challenge is that many words seem to fit in more than one place. These are called red herrings, and they are meant to trick you. You only get four wrong tries. On the fourth mistake, the game ends and the answers appear.
Each group also has a colour that shows its difficulty:
- Yellow (easiest)
- Green (easy)
- Blue (medium)
- Purple (hardest)
That’s what makes Connections fun and frustrating at the same time.
Hints & Full Solution To NYT Connections (January 22)
Here are today’s hints:
- Yellow: If you can read the letters well, they are […]
- Green: Can you eat it?
- Blue: Doing something incorrectly.
- Purple: Remove something.
Extra hints:
- Every group except yellow has a word starting with “T.”
- Every group except blue has a word starting with “S.”
One word from each group:
- Yellow: Distinct
- Green: Strudel
- Blue: Fluff
- Purple: Timer
Full Solution for Thursday, January 22:
- Yellow (Well-defined, As An Image): Clear, Crisp, Distinct, Sharp
- Green (Fruit Desserts): Cobbler, Crumble, Strudel, Turnover
- Blue (Bungle): Fluff, Fumble, Miss, Trip
- Purple (Magazines Plus A Letter): Ellen, Spiny, Timer, Use
This puzzle played with clarity, food, mistakes, and clever word add-ons. Many players got stuck mixing up the food words or the mistake words. Once “Strudel” and “Cobbler” clicked, the green group became clear.
The purple group was the sneakiest, as it needed you to think of magazine names with an extra letter added. A fun and clever challenge overall.

