It’s the end of another week, but before the weekend can land successfully, you need to complete today’s NYT Connections puzzle. Let’s keep that streak running and make 2026 your most profitable year in the puzzle challenge space! Below, I’ve outlined today’s NYT Connections hints and solutions, so you can get things wrapped up quickly.
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 9)
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, #943:
- 3 BALL
- 8 BALL
- 6 MAFIA
- COUTH
- CARDINAL
- DEEP END
- CHAINZ
- FORTH
- HEART EMOJI
- LIMB
- DIRECTION
- LEST
- SOLO CUP
- THIN ICE
- NON BLONDES
- OAST
And here are the hints I can offer for today’s NYT Connections:
- Yellow – Slang or casual terms for where you live.
- Green – Think about how something might sound.
- Blue – THands you might make at a card table.
- Purple – Add “animal” after each word.
Here’s the final warning before we get to the NYT Connections answers for today, January 9:
Are you sure you want to scroll further?
Very well!
NYT Connections Answers Explained for Today, January 9 (#943)
If you want to jump straight to the answers for today’s NYT Connections puzzle, I’ve got you covered:
- Yellow – 3 BALL, CARDINAL, HEART EMOJI, SOLO CUP
- Green – 8 BALL, DEEP END, LIMB, THIN ICE
- Blue – 6 MAFIA, CHAINZ, DIRECTION, NON BLONDES
- Purple – COUTH, FORTH, LEST, OAST
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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