About NYT Connections
NYT Connections is a daily word association puzzle where you group 16 seemingly unrelated words into four categories of four words each, based on hidden themes. The categories are color-coded by difficulty: Yellow is the easiest, followed by Green, Blue, and Purple, which is the hardest. The game allows four mistakes before it ends, so strategic thinking and careful guessing are key to success.
Hints for January 20, 2026 (#954)
Today’s grid leans more on vocabulary and trivia than pop culture, which makes it approachable if you spot the patterns early. The color order is:
Yellow Category: Intertwine
Green Category: Kinds of bees
Blue Category: Famous bridges
Purple Category: Starting with synonyms for “hanker for”
Answers for January 20, 2026 (#954)
Step-by-step Hints (No Full Spoilers Yet)
Yellow: Intertwine
- Think about what you do with shoelaces, hair, or threads.
- Verbs here could describe twisting, looping, or weaving things together.
Green: Kinds of bees
- Picture different bees you might see in nature documentaries or news: some are gentle, some are scary, some build hives in wood.
- Each word can sit directly before “bee” to make a common type.
Blue: Famous bridges
- Think big city skylines and tourist photos: an orange-red structure in San Francisco, an iconic span in New York, a Venetian landmark, and a British towered crossing.
- Each is a proper noun you could visit or see on a postcard.
Purple: “Hanker for” wordplay
- The trickiest set: each answer begins with a hidden word that means “desire” or “crave.”
- Strip the first part of each word and you’ll find a synonym like “crave,” “desire,” “need,” or “want.”
Full Answers for NYT Connections January 20, 2026
| Color | Theme | Words |
| Yellow | Intertwine | LACE, TWIST, WEAVE, WIND |
| Green | Kinds of Bees | BUMBLE, CARPENTER, HONEY, KILLER |
| Blue | Famous Bridges | BROOKLYN, GOLDEN GATE, RIALTO, TOWER |
| Purple | STARTING WITH SYNONYMS FOR “HANKER FOR” | CRAVEN, DESIREE, NEEDLE, WANTON |
- In the yellow group, each verb can describe threads or strands crossing and looping together.
- In the green group, each word pairs naturally with “bee” (bumblebee, carpenter bee, honeybee, killer bee).
- In the blue group, all four are world-famous bridges: Brooklyn Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, Rialto Bridge, and Tower Bridge.
- In the purple group, the front of each word hides a desire synonym: CRAVE‑n, DESIRE‑e, NEED‑le, WANT‑on.
Strategy Tips for Similar Crosswords
- Scan for obvious trivia anchors like cities, landmarks, or insects; they often lock a group quickly.
- Watch for morphing wordplay, where parts of words hide clues (prefixes that are verbs, emotions, or synonyms).
- When in doubt, test if words pair with the same noun, like “___ bee” or “___ Bridge,” to reveal theme clusters.
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