NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Thursday, January 15, 2026 (#949)

Puzzle #949. Start with a gentle nudge and work down — the full answers are at the bottom, hidden until you ask for them.

Just tell me the answer

The NYT Connections answer for Thursday, January 15, 2026 (puzzle #949) is: YELLOW — GARDENING TOOLS: HOSE, RAKE, SHOVEL, SPADE. GREEN — UNMOVING: FROZEN, STATIC, STATIONARY, STILL. BLUE — THINGS THAT COME IN FLAKES: CEREAL, DANDRUFF, SALT, SNOW. PURPLE — WORDS FORMED BY TWO MEN’S NAMES: JACKAL, LEVITATE, MELTED, PATRON.

Today's 16 words

The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Thursday, January 15, 2026. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.

CEREAL
STATIC
MELTED
SNOW
LEVITATE
SALT
PATRON
SHOVEL
HOSE
STATIONARY
SPADE
JACKAL
FROZEN
RAKE
DANDRUFF
STILL

How hard is Connections #949?

Easy30/100
  • Four clean, meaning-based categories with little overlap.

Where to start: Every category here is meaning-based, so group by topic first and use the four-per-group constraint to settle any word that could go two ways.

Connections hints for Thursday, January 15, 2026

Four levels, each giving away a little more. Open only as many as you need.

NYT Connections answers for Thursday, January 15, 2026

Keep playing

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Common questions

What is the NYT Connections answer for Thursday, January 15, 2026?

The NYT Connections answer for Thursday, January 15, 2026 (puzzle #949) is: YELLOW — GARDENING TOOLS: HOSE, RAKE, SHOVEL, SPADE. GREEN — UNMOVING: FROZEN, STATIC, STATIONARY, STILL. BLUE — THINGS THAT COME IN FLAKES: CEREAL, DANDRUFF, SALT, SNOW. PURPLE — WORDS FORMED BY TWO MEN’S NAMES: JACKAL, LEVITATE, MELTED, PATRON.

What is the purple group in Connections #949?

The purple (hardest) group is "WORDS FORMED BY TWO MEN’S NAMES": JACKAL, LEVITATE, MELTED, PATRON.

What is the easiest group in today's Connections puzzle?

The yellow group is the most straightforward: "GARDENING TOOLS" — HOSE, RAKE, SHOVEL, SPADE. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.

What number is today's Connections puzzle?

Thursday, January 15, 2026 is NYT Connections puzzle #949. Connections launched on 12 June 2023 with puzzle #1, and a new puzzle is published every day.

What time does a new NYT Connections puzzle come out?

A new Connections puzzle unlocks at midnight in your own local time zone, so the changeover happens at a different moment around the world. The puzzle itself is the same for everyone on a given date.