Lead: On January 6, 2026, Mashable published hints and the full solution for The New York Times Connections puzzle number 940, which featured 16 words split into four themed groups. Players were given progressive clues — from cryptic hints to explicit category labels — before the site revealed the four correct quartets and their component words. The puzzle, playable on NYT Games across web and mobile, attracted attention from casual players and daily puzzlers alike because one category leaned on gambling terminology. Mashable’s write-up aimed to help solvers who wanted nudges or the outright answers.
Key Takeaways
- Puzzle: NYT Connections #940 was published for January 6, 2026 and contained 16 words to be grouped into four categories.
- Hints: Mashable offered progressive hints — initial cryptic prompts, followed by explicit category labels for those who requested more help.
- Categories: The revealed groups were: Apartment; Sonorous (labeled “Sonorous” / “Sonorous”); Poker hands, familiarly; and “___ animal.”
- Answers: The four correct quartets were Apartment: DIGS, FLAT, PAD, QUARTERS; Sonorous: CLEAR, DEEP, FLAT, RICH; Poker hands, familiarly: BOAT, FLUSH, QUADS, STRAIGHT; ___ animal: BALLOON, PACK, PARTY, STUFFED.
- Mistakes & mechanics: Players may make up to four mistakes before a game ends; color codes on the board indicate increasing difficulty (yellow, green, blue, purple).
- Accessibility: Connections runs on both desktop browsers and mobile devices and supports shuffling/rearranging tiles to spot links more easily.
Background
Connections is a daily grouping puzzle introduced by The New York Times Games and credited in early coverage to associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu. The format gives solvers a 4×4 matrix of 16 words and asks them to identify four sets of four words that share a common thread. Since its launch, the game has joined the Times’ portfolio of viral word games, alongside titles such as Wordle and Spelling Bee.
The board uses color coding to suggest relative difficulty: yellow categories are typically the easiest, followed by green, blue and purple. Solvers can remove correct quartets to simplify the remaining board, while incorrect guesses count as mistakes; a limit of four mistakes ends the run. The simplicity of the rule set, combined with daily rotation and social sharing, has helped the game spread across social platforms.
Main Event
For January 6’s Connections #940, Mashable first provided subtle hints aimed at solvers who preferred to work toward the answer themselves. The early nudges described loose thematic cues — for example, a prompt pointing toward living spaces and another hint referencing poker jargon — without immediately listing category names.
As players requested more help, Mashable supplied explicit category labels: Yellow was labeled Apartment; Green was Sonorous; Blue read Poker hands, familiarly; and Purple appeared as “___ animal.” These labels guided solvers toward groupings of four words that fit each theme. The site then presented the full solutions for readers who wanted the answers outright.
Mashable’s revealed solutions for the four quartets were: Apartment — DIGS, FLAT, PAD, QUARTERS; Sonorous — CLEAR, DEEP, FLAT, RICH; Poker hands, familiarly — BOAT, FLUSH, QUADS, STRAIGHT; and ___ animal — BALLOON, PACK, PARTY, STUFFED. The story noted that words like FLAT appeared in more than one context (both Apartment and Sonorous), so players had to be careful not to misassign tiles.
Analysis & Implications
Connections’ design rewards both lateral thinking and pattern recognition: solvers must consider multiple relationships (semantic, morphological, colloquial usage) and avoid tempting but incorrect groupings. The January 6 puzzle exemplifies that tension by including words that plausibly belong to two different sets, increasing the challenge even when a category label is known.
From an engagement standpoint, daily reveals and community discussion keep repeat players returning. Social sharing features (mirroring Wordle’s post-game cards) turn private wins into public conversation, which fuels interest and broadens the game’s reach beyond dedicated puzzle audiences. That network effect is one reason media outlets like Mashable produce regular hint-and-answer guides.
For game designers and the Times, recurring puzzles like Connections are low-friction retention tools: they require minimal production overhead while generating consistent daily traffic. However, balancing difficulty matters; puzzles that skew too easy risk boring regulars, while ones packed with ambiguous overlaps can frustrate casual players and suppress sharing.
Comparison & Data
| Feature | Typical | January 6 (#940) |
| Words per puzzle | 16 | 16 |
| Category difficulty (color) | Yellow → Purple | Included all four colors |
| Ambiguous tiles | Occasional | Multiple (e.g., FLAT) |
The table shows that Connections #940 followed the standard 16-word layout and used the full color difficulty spectrum. The presence of ambiguous tiles like FLAT — which fits both a living-space category and a sonority category — raises the puzzle’s complexity and explains why many solvers sought Mashable’s hints.
Reactions & Quotes
“Connections asks players to group words that share a common thread, which can be deceptively tricky when words fit more than one theme.”
Mashable (explanatory summary)
Context: Mashable framed the game for readers who were unfamiliar with Connections’ mechanics and emphasized why hints can be useful when words appear to belong in multiple sets.
“The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game.”
The New York Times (game attribution)
Context: This attribution highlights the editorial provenance of Connections and situates the puzzle within the NYT Games team’s broader work on daily word games.
Unconfirmed
- Motive for specific word selection: NYT has not published a public rationale for why particular words or theme overlaps were chosen for #940.
- Exact internal difficulty metrics: The Times’ algorithm or editorial guidelines for assigning color difficulty have not been publicly detailed beyond the general color order.
Bottom Line
Connections #940 (January 6, 2026) presented a mix of straightforward and deliberately ambiguous sets, prompting many players to consult hints or the full answer list. Mashable provided a tiered help approach — hints first, then category labels, and finally the complete solutions — to accommodate solvers who wanted different levels of assistance.
Daily puzzles like Connections continue to succeed because they combine quick-to-learn rules with variable daily challenge and social sharing mechanics. For solvers who encounter ambiguous tiles, a careful process of elimination and attention to colloquial usage (especially in categories like poker familiars) will often reveal the intended quartets.