NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, January 12 (game #946)

NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
(Image credit: New York Times)
Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, January 11 (game #945).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #946) - today's words

NYT Connections hints for game 946 on a purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

  • HANDSHAKE
  • COMPACT
  • ARMCHAIR
  • EXPERT
  • CONSOLE
  • HEADQUARTER
  • NOVICE
  • FOOTSTOOL
  • UNDERSTANDING
  • PUMPERNICKEL
  • PROFICIENT
  • AGREEMENT
  • CEFTAZIDIME
  • INTERMEDIATE
  • BOOKCASE
  • MONEYPENNY

NYT Connections today (game #946) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • YELLOW: As seen in a house
  • GREEN: Participation ranking
  • BLUE: Oath
  • PURPLE: Look for cash

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #946) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • YELLOW: LIVING ROOM FURNITURE
  • GREEN: EXPERIENCE LEVELS
  • BLUE: PROMISE
  • PURPLE: ENDING IN U.S. COINS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #946) - the answers

NYT Connections answers for game 946 on a purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #946, are…

  • YELLOW: LIVING ROOM FURNITURE ARMCHAIR, BOOKCASE, CONSOLE, FOOTSTOOL
  • GREEN: EXPERIENCE LEVELS EXPERT, INTERMEDIATE, NOVICE, PROFICIENT
  • BLUE: PROMISE AGREEMENT, COMPACT, HANDSHAKE, UNDERSTANDING
  • PURPLE: ENDING IN U.S. COINS CEFTAZIDIME, HEADQUARTER, MONEYPENNY, PUMPERNICKEL

  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: Perfect

This ended up being an easy game, although my first impression was that it would be far more difficult.

My annoyance is that rather than be blinded by the difficulty of several long words I should have taken a beat to study them. I had no idea what CEFTAZIDIME was (it’s an antibiotic) but i’ve been playing Connections long enough to realize that difficult words are often in the game for reasons other than their meaning.

That said, I still spotted the tiles ENDING IN U.S. COINS before the last group. Congratulations if you got it first.


Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, January 11, game #945)

  • YELLOW: GROUP BAND, CREW, PACK, TEAM
  • GREEN: PLUNGE CRASH, CRATER, DROP, TANK
  • BLUE: PARTS OF A SINK BASIN, DRAIN, FAUCET, STOPPER
  • PURPLE: EQUESTRIAN GEAR BIT, CROP, HALTER, SADDLE

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Contributor

Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.

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