NYT Connections is part of the New York Times’ expanding daily puzzle lineup, which challenges players to group related words by logic rather than definition, as explained on the official NYT Games Connections page.
The NYT Connections puzzle for January 26, 2026 is a smart mix of word meaning and wordplay, designed to pull you in different directions before the patterns finally emerge. Several tiles look obvious on first glance, only to reveal a completely different role once you start thinking in verbs, names, and letter tricks instead of literal definitions.
Words in today’s Connections puzzle: badge, buffalo, Close, cow, drain, Field, fleece, Foster, goa, milk, moos, rabbi, rattle, ruffle, squeeze, Weaver
If you found yourself second-guessing early groupings, you weren’t alone. Today’s grid rewards players who slow down and ask not just what a word is, but how it can be used. That distinction is the key to cracking this board cleanly.
The yellow group comes together once you think about extracting value from something — actions that take advantage of a situation rather than describe it. From there, the green group shifts tone, focusing on verbs that unsettle or intimidate, many of which double as animal names and can easily mislead.
The blue group offers a breather for film fans, grouping together last names that belong to iconic actresses whose careers span decades of major roles. The purple group, meanwhile, leans fully into Connections’ love of wordplay, asking you to recognize shortened forms that become mammals once a single letter is restored.
The trickiest part of today’s puzzle is resisting the urge to group words by surface meaning. “Buffalo” and “cow,” for example, feel like they belong together immediately — but not for the reason most players expect at first glance.
Tap to reveal today’s NYT Connections answers
Yellow group – Exploit:
drain, fleece, milk, squeeze
Green group – Daunt:
buffalo, cow, rattle, ruffle
Blue group – Iconic actresses:
Close, Field, Foster, Weaver
Purple group – Mammals minus last letter:
badge, moos, rabbi, goa
Today’s puzzle is a reminder of why Connections works so well at its best. It nudges you away from instinct, forces a rethink, and rewards players who stay flexible. If you solved the purple group without help, that’s a genuinely strong finish.
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