NYT Connections Answers (January 29): Puzzle #962 Made You Go Bonkers? Check Hints, & Solution

NYT Connections January 29 mixes fairy tales, makeup, and tricky sound-alike words. See today’s hints and the full solution here.

NYT Connections resets every day and has a loyal group of fans who love spotting patterns and testing their thinking skills.

Source : Screenshot/New York Times

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• Connections puzzle blends fairy tales, makeup, and wordplay.
• Players group 16 words into four categories of four.
• Hints guide towards makeup, fairy tales, word endings, and homophones.

NYT Connections Answers: The New York Times’ daily word puzzle, Connections, is back with its January 29 challenge, and it’s a clever one. Today’s grid mixes fairy tales, makeup items, tricky sound-alike words, and sneaky endings. As always, players must sort 16 words into four hidden groups. It looks easy at first, but the red herrings make it tough.

Just like Wordle, Connections resets every day and has become a favourite for people who love testing their brains. Some links jump out quickly, while others take a few wrong turns before they click. If today’s puzzle felt confusing, you’re not alone. Below, you’ll find clear hints and the full solution for Thursday, January 29.

What Is Connections & How Do You Play?

Connections is a daily word game where you must group 16 words into four sets of four. Each group shares one common idea. The tricky part is that many words look like they could fit in more than one place.

For example, “Hook,” “Nana,” “Peter,” and “Wendy” are all Peter Pan characters. Another example is “Action,” “Ballpark,” “Go,” and “Stick,” which all come before the word “Figure.”

In Connections, you only get four wrong tries. On your fourth mistake, the game ends and the answers are shown. Every group also has a colour based on difficulty:

• Yellow (easiest)
• Green (easy)
• Blue (medium)
• Purple (hardest)

This simple setup hides a lot of challenges. One wrong link can throw off your whole board. That’s what makes the game so fun, and so frustrating.

Hints & Full Solution To NYT Connections (January 29)

Here are today’s hints:

• Yellow: Think of facial products.
• Green: Find the fairytale.
• Blue: Focus on the last part.
• Purple: Sounds like...

Extra hints:

• Every theme except green has a word starting with “S”.
• “Grimm” and “Goldilocks” are not in the same group.

One word from each group:

• Yellow: Stain
• Green: Bear
• Blue: Smug
• Purple: Gorey

Full Solution for Thursday, January 29:

• Yellow (Makeup): Bronzer, Foundation, Liner, Stain
• Green (Featured In Goldilocks And The Three Bears): Bear, Bed, Goldilocks, Porridge
• Blue (Ending With Drinking Vessels): Fibreglass, Silverstein, Smug, Stumbler
• Purple (Homophones Of Words Meaning “Brutal”): Gorey, Grimm, Grizzly, Scarry

This puzzle had a little bit of everything. The fairy tale group was warm and familiar. The makeup set was clean and simple. The blue group was sneaky, asking players to focus on the ending sounds. The purple group was the trickiest, using words that sound like brutal ones.

It’s the kind of puzzle that feels confusing at first, but very smart once everything falls into place.

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