NYT Connections Answers: The New York Times’ daily brain teaser, Connections, dropped its January 21 challenge, and it came with a clever mix of everyday items, sneaky wordplay, and pop culture fun. As always, players were asked to sort 16 words into four hidden groups. It sounds simple, but the puzzle quickly tests your focus and patience.
Like Wordle, Connections resets every day and has built a loyal fan base that loves spotting patterns and beating the grid. If today’s puzzle slowed you down, here’s everything you need: hints and the full solution.
What Is Connections & How Do You Play?
Connections is a daily word game where you group 16 words into four sets of four. Each group shares one common idea. The twist is that many words look like they belong together, even when they don’t. These red herrings are placed on purpose to trip you up.
For example, “Hook,” “Nana,” “Peter,” and “Wendy” are all Peter Pan characters. Or “Action,” “Ballpark,” “Go,” and “Stick” all come before the word “Figure.”
You get only four mistakes. On your fourth wrong guess, the game ends and shows all the answers. Each group also has a colour that tells you how hard it is:
- Yellow (easiest)
- Green (easy)
- Blue (medium)
- Purple (hardest)
It’s quick to play, but it really makes you think.
Hints & Full Solution To NYT Connections (January 21)
Connections hint for Wednesday 21st January
- Yellow: These items have more than one life.
- Green: As used for sleeping.
- Blue: Find the thief.
- Purple: Think of a superhero.
Extra hints:
- Every group except green has a word starting with “C.”
- “Throw” and “Lift” are in different groups.
One word from each group:
- Yellow: Newspaper
- Green: Blanket
- Blue: Pirate
- Purple: Mobile
Connections groups for today:
- Yellow: Items To Recycle
- Green: Bedding
- Blue: Plagiarise
- Purple: Batman's "Bat" Things
Connections answer today – Wednesday, January 21:
- Yellow: Items To Recycle – Bottle, Can, Cardboard Box, Newspaper
- Green: Bedding – Blanket, Sham, Sheet, Throw
- Blue: Plagiarise – Copy, Crib, Lift, Pirate
- Purple: Batman's "Bat" Things – Cave, Mobile, Signal, Suit
This puzzle was a fun blend of real-world objects and clever meanings. The recycle group stood out once “bottle” and “can” clicked. The bedding set felt calm and simple.
The trickiest part for many players was the “plagiarise” group, where words like “lift” and “pirate” change meaning. And of course, the Batman set added a playful superhero twist to end the game.