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If you\u2019re looking for the Connections<\/a> answer for Sunday, January 18, 2026, read on\u2014I\u2019ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I\u2019ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we\u2019ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for January 18, NYT Connections #952! <\/strong>Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today\u2019s Connections game.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page<\/u><\/a>. (If you play Wordle<\/u><\/a>, Strands<\/u><\/a>, or Quordle<\/u><\/a>, check out our hints for those games, too.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Below, I\u2019ll give you some oblique hints at today\u2019s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I\u2019ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!<\/p>\n \n Here are spoiler-free hints that describe the type of each category in today\u2019s Connections:<\/p>\n Yellow category – Parts of a whole.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Green category – Related verbs.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Blue category – Related nouns.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Purple category – Pop culture\/history.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today\u2019s Connections:<\/p>\n Yellow category – They\u2019re parts of an animal.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Green category – Car accident verbs.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Blue category – What you might look at when searching for something new to read.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Purple category – They performed in the past.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n We\u2019re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don\u2019t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)<\/p>\n BILL, QUOTE, PRICE, and TOTAL do not refer to paying for goods or services. They all belong to different categories.<\/p>\n PRICE is a last name.<\/p>\n BILL is another word for \u201cbeak.\u201d<\/p>\n TOTAL is a verb that describes when paying for repairs would exceed the cost of just buying something new.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yellow: FEATURES OF A DUCK<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Green: DESTROY<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Blue: FOUND ON A BOOK JACKET<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Purple: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD ACTORS<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Ready to learn the answers to today\u2019s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.<\/p>\n The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today\u2019s yellow group is FEATURES OF A DUCK and the words are: BILL, FEATHERS, WEBBING, WINGS.<\/p>\n The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today\u2019s green category is DESTROY and the words are: BREAK, DAMAGE, TOTAL, WRECK.<\/p>\n The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today\u2019s blue category is FOUND ON A BOOK JACKET and the words are: AUTHOR, QUOTE, SYNOPSIS, TITLE.<\/p>\n The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today\u2019s purple category is CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD ACTORS and the words are: COOPER, GRANT, PECK, PRICE.<\/p>\n BILL could go with TOTAL and QUOTE as words related to paying for a service. BILL could also go with WINGS, WEBBING, and FEATHERS to describe parts of a bird. That feels like a stronger hit. \ud83d\udfe8<\/p>\n TITLE, AUTHOR, SYNOPSIS, QUOTE, and PRICE could all be things listed on a book\u2019s front and back covers. I\u2019ll have to wait to see what I can eliminate.\u00a0<\/p>\n PRICE could go with DAMAGE, QUOTE, and TOTAL. I\u2019ll keep looking just to be sure.<\/p>\n DAMAGE could also go with WRECK and BREAK.\u00a0<\/p>\n I also see that GRANT, PECK, PRICE, and COOPER could be last names.\u00a0<\/p>\n I think I\u2019ll try TITLE, QUOTE, AUTHOR, and SYNOPSIS as my book category. \ud83d\udfe6 Nice!<\/p>\n I guess I\u2019ll try PRICE, PECK, COOPER, and GRANT? They all seem like last names, but I\u2019m not sure what links them together. \ud83d\udfea Oh, they\u2019re actors! I guess that\u2019s Vincent PRICE, Gregory PECK, Gary COOPER, and Cary GRANT?\u00a0<\/p>\n That means BREAK is the word that goes with DAMAGE, WRECK, and TOTAL. Oh, I see now, those are all car crash verbs. \ud83d\udfe9<\/p>\n I have a full guide to playing Connections<\/u><\/a>, but here\u2019s a refresher on the rules:<\/p>\n First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website<\/a> or in their Games app<\/a> (formerly the Crossword app). You\u2019ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists<\/em>: bucket list, guest list, and so on).<\/p>\n Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you\u2019ll get a chance to try again.<\/p>\n You win when you\u2019ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.<\/p>\n The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters<\/a> along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don\u2019t hit \u201csubmit\u201d until you\u2019ve confirmed that your group of four contains only<\/em> those four things.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no<\/em> connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed \u201cWhistler\u2019s Mother,\u201d<\/a> you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn\u2019t fit any of the obvious themes, either.<\/p>\n Another way to win when you\u2019re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints\u2013which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!<\/p>\n Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to today’s Connections.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n Credit: Connections\/NYT<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThe category types in today\u2019s Connections puzzle<\/h2>\n
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Hints for the themes in today\u2019s Connections puzzle<\/h2>\n
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BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today\u2019s Connections puzzle!<\/h2>\n
A heads up about the tricky parts<\/h2>\n
What are the categories in today\u2019s Connections?<\/h2>\n
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DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW<\/h2>\n
What are the yellow words in today\u2019s Connections?<\/h3>\n
What are the green words in today\u2019s Connections?<\/h3>\n
What are the blue words in today\u2019s Connections?<\/h3>\n
What are the purple words in today\u2019s Connections?<\/h3>\n
How I solved today\u2019s Connections<\/h2>\n
\n What do you think so far?
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\n <\/span>\n <\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nConnections\nPuzzle #952\n\ud83d\udfe8\ud83d\udfe8\ud83d\udfe8\ud83d\udfe8\n\ud83d\udfe6\ud83d\udfe6\ud83d\udfe6\ud83d\udfe6\n\ud83d\udfea\ud83d\udfea\ud83d\udfea\ud83d\udfea\n\ud83d\udfe9\ud83d\udfe9\ud83d\udfe9\ud83d\udfe9<\/pre>\n
How to play Connections<\/h2>\n
How to win Connections<\/h2>\n