NYT Connections #962 Hints and Answers for January 28, 2026

NYT Connections is one of the most popular daily New York Times word and logic games, challenging players to identify relationships between words. In each puzzle, you are given 16 words and must group them into four sets of four, where every set shares a hidden theme.

Below you will find the full NYT Connections #962 hints, answers, and category explanations for January 28, 2026, along with a complete how-to-play guide.

Today’s NYT Connections #962 Hints for January 28, 2026

Use these category hints if you want help without seeing the answers immediately.

Yellow category hint: Something that is not real, made to look like the original
Green category hint: Household items you grab for cleaning chores
Blue category hint: Parts that work together in a vinyl record player
Purple category hint: Each word can follow the same four-letter adjective meaning “extra”

These clues should help you narrow down the correct word groupings.

Today’s NYT Connections #962 Answers

Here are the correct word groups for NYT Connections #962.

Yellow Category – IMITATION

DUMMY, MOCK, PRETEND, SHAM

Green Category – CLEANING SUPPLIES

BUCKET, GLOVES, RAG, SOAP

Blue Category – COMPONENTS OF A RECORD PLAYER

MOTOR, NEEDLE, PLATTER, TONEARM

Purple Category – Words That Follow “SPARE”

ME, RIB, TIME, TIRE

Together, these complete all four Connections categories for today’s puzzle.

How Difficult Was Today’s NYT Connections Puzzle?

Today’s NYT Connections #962 had a well-balanced difficulty curve:

Yellow and Green were fairly straightforward, making them ideal starting points
Blue required some knowledge of turntables and vinyl record players
Purple was the most clever, relying on wordplay with the word “spare”

Overall, this puzzle delivered a satisfying mix of logic, vocabulary, and pattern recognition.

How to Play NYT Connections

NYT Connections is a daily word association puzzle where players must find hidden relationships between words.

Here’s how it works:

You get 16 words
You must form 4 groups of 4 words
Each group shares a common theme
The puzzle does not tell you the themes in advance

Difficulty Levels

Each group has a color that reflects its difficulty:

Yellow – Easiest
Green – Moderate
Blue – Hard
Purple – Hardest

Rules

You get four mistakes total
A correct group locks in and is removed
If you exceed the allowed mistakes, the game reveals the solution
The puzzle resets every 24 hours

Tracking Your NYT Connections Progress

You can play NYT Connections without an account, but if you want to:

Track your win streak
See statistics
Share your results

You’ll need to log in with a New York Times account. Results can be copied and shared anywhere.

NYT Connections #952 Hints, Answers Today – January 18, 2026

If today’s NYT Connections puzzle made you pause, squint at the screen, and mutter “okay… what are you hiding from me?” — you’re not alone.

Connections has a special way of looking simple at first and then quietly turning tricky once you get a little too confident. Puzzle #952, released on January 18, 2026, is a great example of that balance. A few groupings feel obvious once you see them, while one category, in particular, seems random until everything suddenly clicks.

Whether you solved it cleanly, burned through a couple of guesses, or decided to tap out and check the answers, let’s walk through today’s puzzle together — starting gently with hints before revealing the full solution.

NYT Connections #952 Hints (Spoiler-Light)

If you’re still working through the grid and just need a nudge in the right direction, these category clues should help without giving the game away completely:

Yellow: Physical features you’d instantly recognize on a duck
Green: Words that describe destroying something completely
Blue: Information commonly printed on the outside of a book
Purple: Last names of famous leading men from classic Hollywood

At least one of these groups probably jumped out right away. Another likely felt oddly mismatched — that’s the one to sit with a little longer.

NYT Connections #952 Answers (Full Reveal)

If you’re ready to see how the board breaks down, here’s the complete solution for today’s puzzle:

FEATURES OF A DUCK

Bill
Feathers
Webbing
Wings

This was the most straightforward group for many players. Once you spot one bird-related word, the rest tend to fall neatly into place.

DESTROY

Break
Damage
Total
Wreck

This category was all about intensity — not just harming something, but wiping it out entirely. Simple words, but tightly connected.

FOUND ON A BOOK JACKET

Author
Quote
Synopsis
Title

This one rewards anyone who reads regularly. If you’ve ever flipped a paperback over in a bookstore, you’ve seen all four of these together more times than you can count.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD ACTORS

Cooper
Grant
Peck
Price

This was the sneaky group. On their own, these words feel unrelated. But once you shift into a film-history mindset, the connection becomes clear — and very satisfying.

How Tough Was Today’s Puzzle?

Overall, Connections #952 felt well-balanced and thoughtfully constructed.

Most solvers likely cleared Yellow, Green, and Blue without too much trouble. The real challenge was Purple, which required a mental pivot away from literal meanings and into cultural knowledge. That kind of misdirection is exactly what makes Connections so fun when it’s done right.

Difficulty rating: ☆ (4 out of 5)
Not brutal — but clever enough to feel earned.

A Few Strategy Notes (For Tomorrow’s Puzzle)

If today tripped you up, here are a couple of habits that help:

Don’t assume similar-looking words belong together
If a group feels too obvious, double-check — Connections loves bait
Cultural references (movies, books, history) often hide in Purple
When stuck, step back and ask: “What world do these words live in?”

How NYT Connections Works (Quick Refresher)

For anyone new to the game:

You’re given 16 words
Your task is to form four groups of four
Each group shares a hidden theme
You’re allowed only four mistakes

Difficulty Color Guide

Yellow — easiest
Green — moderate
Blue — tricky
Purple — abstract or deceptive

The puzzle refreshes once every 24 hours, and once it’s done, it’s locked — so every guess counts.

Final Thoughts

NYT Connections #952 was one of those puzzles that rewards patience. It didn’t rely on obscure vocabulary, but it did ask you to think laterally and trust your instincts when things felt slightly off.

If Purple got you today, don’t sweat it — that’s exactly where the fun lives.

New puzzle tomorrow.
Fresh connections waiting.
We’ll be right here when you need them.