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One date note: January 6, 2026, was a Tuesday and featured a different Connections puzzle. The Monday and puzzle number in this guide point to January 6, 2025.
How NYT Connections works
Connections presents 16 words and asks you to divide them into four groups of four. Each group has a shared connection, but the entries are deliberately chosen to create misleading overlaps. A word may seem to fit more than one category until the complete group becomes clear.
The hints below are arranged from less revealing to more revealing. They are paraphrased solving clues, not official New York Times category wording.
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NYT Connections #575 hints
Yellow group hint
Things you do when breathing heavily.
Green group hint
Words that can describe something broad, general, or all-encompassing.
Blue group hint
Familiar expressions for something very easy.
Purple group hint
Take synonyms for “rear end” and remove their final letter.
Category-level hints
If the individual clues are not enough, here are the four connections without listing the answer words:
- Yellow: BREATHE HARD
- Green: CATCHALL
- Blue: METAPHORS FOR EASY THINGS
- Purple: SYNONYMS FOR REAR END MINUS LAST LETTER
Spoiler warning: the complete answers
The full word groups and the purple wordplay appear below. Stop here if you want to continue solving without seeing the solution.
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Yellow: BREATHE HARD
GASP, HEAVE, PANT, PUFF
All four words can describe forceful or labored breathing. To gasp, pant, or puff is to breathe heavily, while heave can also describe the action of breathing with difficulty or exertion.
Green: CATCHALL
BLANKET, BROAD, GENERAL, UMBRELLA
These words can qualify descriptions or categories that cover many things. A blanket term is broadly applied, a broad or general description lacks narrow limitations, and an umbrella term includes several related ideas beneath it.
Blue: METAPHORS FOR EASY THINGS
ABC, BREEZE, PICNIC, PIE
Each appears in a familiar expression meaning that something is easy: “as easy as ABC,” “a breeze,” “a picnic,” and “easy as pie.” The category is about idiomatic comparisons rather than literal objects or activities.
Purple: SYNONYMS FOR REAR END MINUS LAST LETTER
ARS, BOOT, BUT, RUM
This is the wordplay group. Each entry is made by taking a synonym for “rear end” and removing its final letter:
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →| Answer | Starting word | Transformation |
|---|---|---|
| ARS | ARSE | Remove the final E |
| BOOT | BOOTY | Remove the final Y |
| BUT | BUTT | Remove the final T |
| RUM | RUMP | Remove the final P |
The purple group is the least literal of the four. The answers do not themselves mean “rear end”; they are shortened forms of words that do. That extra transformation is the trap.
Why this puzzle can be deceptive
The yellow group contains several words associated with physical exertion, and “breeze,” “picnic,” and “pie” can each be read as ordinary nouns before their idiomatic meaning becomes relevant. The green group also uses flexible descriptive terms that could plausibly seem to fit many entries.
Connections rewards finding a complete, exact set of four rather than matching isolated words. When a category seems possible, check whether all four entries fit in the same way and whether the remaining words form cleaner groups. The purple set is especially difficult to spot until you recognize that the entries are truncated synonyms rather than direct definitions.
Want more Connections-style puzzles?
For readers who want more puzzles in the same format, the publisher lists Connections: Find the Common Threads in 100+ Puzzles of Wit and Wordplay by The New York Times Games and Wyna Liu. The collection is described as containing more than 100 original puzzles with varied difficulty, wordplay, misdirection, and a lay-flat format. Look for the NYT Connections puzzle book if you want to check current retailer or preorder availability; the listed publication date is October 27, 2026.
This is a separate collection of new puzzles, not a claim that it contains daily puzzle #575. Availability and preorder status may change, so verify the current listing before purchasing.
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Playing and checking your results
Connections is available through NYT Games on the web and in New York Times applications. After completing a puzzle, the game provides player statistics. Those statistics reflect your own play history and should not be treated as an objective difficulty rating for this particular puzzle.
Frequently Asked Questions
What date was NYT Connections #575?
NYT Connections #575 was the puzzle for Monday, January 6, 2025. January 6, 2026 was a Tuesday and corresponded to a different puzzle number.
What is the purple category in Connections #575?
The purple category is synonyms for “rear end” with the final letter removed: ARSE becomes ARS, BOOTY becomes BOOT, BUTT becomes BUT, and RUMP becomes RUM.
What are the four answers for NYT Connections #575?
The groups are GASP, HEAVE, PANT, PUFF for BREATHE HARD; BLANKET, BROAD, GENERAL, UMBRELLA for CATCHALL; ABC, BREEZE, PICNIC, PIE for METAPHORS FOR EASY THINGS; and ARS, BOOT, BUT, RUM for the wordplay category.
The Bottom Line
NYT Connections #575, from Monday, January 6, 2025, groups its words around heavy breathing, catchall descriptions, expressions for easy things, and shortened synonyms for “rear end.” The key to the purple group is removing the last letter from ARSE, BOOTY, BUTT, and RUMP.
Quick Recap
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