Today’s NYT Connections puzzle for Thursday, January 29, 2026 (Puzzle No. 963) is a steady, confidence-building grid — provided you don’t rush into the first connection that looks obvious. With a reported difficulty of 2.3 out of 5, this one rewards careful grouping over clever wordplay. Today’s comment thread for Connections #963 had a clear theme of its own: plenty of solvers said the grid felt “suspiciously easy” overall, but several still got snagged by a classic red-herring moment — many initially tried to group the names as children’s authors or book-related references before the real logic snapped into place. A few players argued the color difficulties felt off, with multiple comments saying blue and purple “should be swapped,” while others praised the blue set as clever once revealed; one popular laugh came from the widespread near-mistake of treating “fiberglass” like it belonged with makeup items, which perfectly captured how this puzzle encouraged overthinking even when the final groupings were straightforward.
Today’s Connections word list: GOREY, SILVERSTEIN, GRIZZLY, BEAR, GRIMM, GOLDILOCKS, STAIN, SCARRY, FIBERGLASS, SMUG, BED, LINER, FOUNDATION, STUMBLER, BRONZER, PORRIDGE.
As always, the goal is to sort the sixteen words into four groups of four, with each group sharing a clear, logical connection. Below you’ll find spoiler-free hints to guide you, followed by the full solutions hidden behind tap-to-reveal boxes.
The official daily puzzle is published by The New York Times .
Today’s Connections Hints
Try these hints in order, stopping as soon as something clicks.
Yellow group hint: Think items you might find in a makeup bag or vanity drawer.
Green group hint: These words all appear together in a very familiar fairy tale.
Blue group hint: Each word hides the name of a drinking container at the end.
Purple group hint: These sound like words that describe something harsh, violent, or brutal — but are spelled differently.
Tap to Reveal Today’s Connections Answers
🟨 Yellow Group
MAKEUP
BRONZER, FOUNDATION, LINER, STAIN
🟩 Green Group
FEATURED IN “GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS”
BEAR, BED, GOLDILOCKS, PORRIDGE
🟦 Blue Group
ENDING WITH DRINKING VESSELS
FIBERGLASS, SILVERSTEIN, SMUG, STUMBLER
🟪 Purple Group
HOMOPHONES OF WORDS MEANING “BRUTAL”
GOREY, GRIMM, GRIZZLY, SCARRY
If today felt smoother than expected, that’s by design. The trickiest part of Puzzle #963 is resisting early overlaps — especially among the descriptive words — and waiting until each group fully locks into place.
