Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 15, #949
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won “Headline Writer of the Year” award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a fun purple category that expects you to find two words hidden in four separate clue words. It’s tricky, but intriguing. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: For planting things.
Green group hint: Not going anywhere.
Blue group hint: Little pieces of something.
Purple group hint: Combine two names.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Gardening tools.
Green group: Unmoving.
Blue group: Things that come in flakes.
Purple group: Words formed by two men’s names.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The completed NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 15, 2026.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is gardening tools. The four answers are hose, rake, shovel and spade.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is unmoving. The four answers are frozen, static, stationary and still.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is things that come in flakes. The four answers are cereal, dandruff, salt and snow.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is words formed by two men’s names. The four answers are jackal, levitate, melted and patron.
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Toughest Connections puzzles
We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.
#5: Included “things you can set,” such as mood, record, table and volleyball.
#4: Included “one in a dozen,” such as egg, juror, month and rose.
#3: Included “streets on screen,” such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.
#2: Included “power ___” such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.
#1: Included “things that can run,” such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.
