Sunday, January 18 Clues And Answers (#952)

Today’s Connections

Credit: NYT / Erik Kain

We’re past the halfpoint in January and 2026 feels like it’s already flying by, though I’m not too concerned with that in the winter. I’m ready for warmer weather and we haven’t even had much snow yet.

If you’re looking for help with today’s Connections, look no further. Below, you’ll find extra hints, clues and the answers for each of the four Connections categories.

Be sure to also check out my latest weekend streaming guide for all the best new TV shows and movies out on Netflix, Apple TV, Prime Video and the myriad other streaming services we subscribe to these days. You can also check out the rest of my guides for Wordle, Pips and Strands on my blog.

Time to group some words, Connectioneers!

If you’re looking for Saturday’s Connections guide, it’s right here.

How To Play Connections

Connections is the second-most popular NYT Games puzzle game outside of the main crossword itself, and an extremely fun, free offering that will get your brain moving every day. Play it right here.

The goal is to take a group of 16 words and find links between four pairs of four of them. They could be specific categories of terms, or they could be little world puzzles where words may come before or after them you need to figure out. And they get more complicated from there.

There is only one set of right answers for this, and you only get a certain number of tries so you can’t just spam around until you find something. There are difficulty tiers coded by color, which will usually go from yellow, blue/green to purple as difficulty increases, so know that going in and when you start linking them together.

You pick the four words you think are linked and either you will get a solve and a lit up row that shows you how you were connected. If you’re close, it will tell you that you’re one away. Again, four mistakes you lose, but if you want to know the answers without failing, either come here, or delete your web cookies and try again. If you want to play more puzzles, you can get an NYT Games subscription to access the full archives of all past puzzles.

Connections Tips & Tricks

A few suggestions for success with your daily Connections.

First off, look for red herrings. These are words that seem to be connected, but are often part of some or each of the other groups. One way to spot these is if you come up with more than four. Words with double meanings – Blackberry could be part of a “fruit” group or tech companies; Palm could be a part of the hand or a type of tree – are often included in these misdirects.

Second, writing words out on paper can be very helpful. Something about the act of writing them out can cause your brain to form connections (this also applies to Strands when trying to unscramble words).

Finally, sound out words or think about them in terms of how they’re spelled or pronounced. Often, connections are made via homophones (or similar sounding words like “Mousse” and “Moose”) or there are secret words hidden within (“red” found within “bread”). If you’re having trouble making a connection, think about the words more mechanically – do they have silent letters? – or would they connect if another word was added to the front or back (Capitan and Dorado connect with the word “El” in front).

NYT Connections Hints And Answers – Sunday, January 18