How has your 2026 started? We’re only one day in, but hopefully things have kicked off how you wanted them to. There’s plenty of year ahead, but as always, it begins with you smashing another NYT Connections puzzle! Today, I’m here with the best NYT Connections hints and solutions you need to get your day started the right way.
Read on to find out today’s answers.
What is NYT Connections?
It would be remiss of me not to give a little foundational backstory before leaping into today’s NYT Connections clues and hints.
In June 2023, NYT Connections emerged as yet another game in the ever-growing New York Times lineup. This title soared immediately, and it’s easy to see why. As a free-to-play, accessible New York Times game, NYT Connections is available to users worldwide and can be played on either desktop devices or via a mobile app.
Playing NYT Connections on your commute or while waiting for a coffee is a fantastic way to kill a few minutes.
But how do you play NYT Connections?
It’s relatively simple, and that’s why it’s the best New York Times game, in my opinion.
The NYT team will provide you with a grid of 16 words once a day. The only task left up to you is to sort those words into four groups of four by finding their commonalities. Every NYT Connections puzzle has just one solution, and some words might have a double meaning, so it can sometimes be tricky to figure out the answers.
It’s also important to stress that the words are color-coded: yellow, blue, green, and purple. That’s in order of difficulty from least to most difficult, too.
What’s critical here is that you get four guesses every day, and if you use those, your NYT Connections answers for today will be out of reach, as it’ll be game over.
Today’s NYT Connections Hints (January 2)
If you want to figure out today’s NYT Connections clues without getting the answers outright, I’ll start with the words themselves. Perhaps just seeing the words here will prompt your brain to take action, and you’ll spot the trends immediately.
Here are the NYT Connections words from today’s puzzle, #936:
- HIVE
- ROUTINE
- RECORD
- NUMBER
- LOG
- STANDARD
- BIT
- JOT
- QUASH
- BAR
- NOTE
- EEK
- METRIC
- GAG
- ALE
- EXAMPLE
And here are the hints I can offer for today’s NYT Connections:
- Yellow – Think of quick ways to capture information, whether you’re scribbling something down, keeping track of events, or making a brief reminder for later. Each word here is something you might produce when you’re trying to preserve a thought or detail.
- Green – These are all words you’d use to describe a comic performer’s signature move, the little recurring bits that make their act recognizable. Whether it’s a short joke, a recurring segment, or a whole comedic persona, each term fits into the world of stage routines and comedic gimmicks.
- Blue – This set is all about measuring against a reference point. These words describe the things we use to judge quality, performance, or expectations — the yardsticks that define what’s typical, acceptable, or exemplary
- Purple – Each of these looks strange at first glance, but imagine a common vegetable with its first letter chopped off. Once you mentally restore that missing initial, the original produce item becomes obvious.
Here’s the final warning before we get to the NYT Connections answers for today, January 2:
Are you sure you want to scroll further?
Very well!
NYT Connections Answers for Today, January 2 (#936)
If you want to jump straight to the answers for today’s NYT Connections puzzle, I’ve got you covered:
- Yellow – JOT, LOG, NOTE, RECORD
- Green – BIT, GAG, NUMBER, ROUTINE
- Blue – BAR, EXAMPLE, METRIC, STANDARD
- Purple – ALE, EEK, HIVE, QUASH
When Does NYT Connections Reset?
That’s today’s puzzle, but if you want the next one, the game resets daily at midnight local time (that’s your local time). You’ll have 24 hours to complete the puzzle when midnight ticks over in your timezone.
How did you do? Did you get a perfect run? Let me know what your streak looks like on the Insider Gaming Discord server
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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