If you’re looking to challenge your brain today, the New York Times’ daily word game Connections is live! Every day, the users get to see 16 words and they have to determine the hidden connections among the words by grouping them into four clusters of four. The objective is to spot the categories that relate each group of words, which could be from synonyms to pop culture references or even to creative wordplay.
How to Play
Connections can be played for free on the NYT website or via the NYT Games app. For subscribers, the full archive of past puzzles is available. Players get four guesses per game, and incorrect guesses add challenge—but sharing results via emoji grids makes it fun with friends. Each group is color-coded, usually with yellow being the easiest, followed by blue, green, and purple, though the NYT often mixes it up.
Today’s Word List – January 7, 2026
STAKE, STAR, WINE, MIRROR, STRIPE, GARLIC, INTEREST, CROSS, SHARE, CIDER, DOUBLE, TROUSERS, CRESCENT, CLONE, CONCERN, RINGER
Hints for Today’s Groups
- Yellow group: Think of the Spider-Man meme with two Spider-Men pointing at each other.
- Green group: A piece of the pie, like in business.
- Blue group: Commonly seen at the United Nations.
- Purple group: Items pressed using a press.
One Word Per Group (Spoiler Warning)
- 🟨 Yellow — MIRROR
- 🟩 Green — SHARE
- 🟦 Blue — STAR
- 🟪 Purple — CIDER
Full Answers and Categories
- 🟨 Doppelgänger: CLONE, DOUBLE, MIRROR, RINGER
- 🟩 Portion: CONCERN, INTEREST, SHARE, STAKE
- 🟦 Common flag symbols: CRESCENT, CROSS, STAR, STRIPE
- 🟪 Pressed using a press: CIDER, GARLIC, TROUSERS, WINE
Strategy and Tips
The daily red herrings were words associated with vampires such as STAKE, MIRROR, GARLIC, and CROSS, which at first seemed to be connected but later were classified into separate groups. It is not always obvious where the relations are, therefore, creative thinking and elimination become very important.
Connections is a game that can improve a person’s vocabulary, pattern detection, and lateral thinking skills. A lot of players think that it is a challenge to form a reverse rainbow, i.e., to exactly guess the arrangement of the purple, blue, green, and yellow groups.
Want to see more detailed explanations or solutions? Follow Kris Holt’s NYT Connections Answers Explained column for in-depth breakdowns of each puzzle.
Fun Fact: Today’s blue group (common flag symbols) had a subtle double meaning, including references to the Moon’s crescent and the UN.
Connections keeps your mind sharp and your days interesting—see how quickly you can solve today’s puzzle!
