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Looking for help with NYT Connections #946, published Monday, January 12, 2026? Start with the spoiler-light hints below, then continue to the full groups and explanations if you need them. This is a completed past puzzle, not the current daily game.
Spoiler warning: The complete grid and answers appear below the hints.
Hints for Connections #946
These clues move from less specific to more revealing. Try to identify four words for each category before scrolling to the solutions.
- Yellow: Furniture commonly found in a living room.
- Green: Terms describing a person’s level of experience or ability.
- Blue: Words that can mean a promise or agreement.
- Purple: Words that end with the names of U.S. coins.
The 16-word grid
Here were the words in NYT Connections #946:
HANDSHAKE; COMPACT; ARMCHAIR; EXPERT; CONSOLE; HEADQUARTER; NOVICE; FOOTSTOOL; UNDERSTANDING; PUMPERNICKEL; PROFICIENT; AGREEMENT; CEFTAZIDIME; INTERMEDIATE; BOOKCASE; MONEYPENNY.
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Answers for NYT Connections #946
Yellow: Living room furniture
- ARMCHAIR
- BOOKCASE
- CONSOLE
- FOOTSTOOL
All four are furniture items that can appear in a living room. CONSOLE is the likely trap: it can also mean a video-game system, but its furniture meaning is the one that belongs here.
Green: Experience levels
- EXPERT
- INTERMEDIATE
- NOVICE
- PROFICIENT
These words describe a person’s knowledge, skill, or experience. NOVICE and EXPERT are the clearest opposites, while INTERMEDIATE and PROFICIENT complete the set.
Blue: Promise
- AGREEMENT
- COMPACT
- HANDSHAKE
- UNDERSTANDING
Each word can refer to an agreement, arrangement, or mutual commitment. A COMPACT can be a formal agreement; a HANDSHAKE can symbolize that an agreement has been reached; and an UNDERSTANDING can describe an informal agreement. AGREEMENT states the category most directly.
Rank #2
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Purple: Ending in U.S. coins
- CEFTAZIDIME → DIME
- HEADQUARTER → QUARTER
- MONEYPENNY → PENNY
- PUMPERNICKEL → NICKEL
The purple group is based on the ending of each complete word, not its meaning. The final letters spell the names of four U.S. coin denominations: DIME, QUARTER, PENNY, and NICKEL.
How to solve the puzzle
A practical solving route starts with the most familiar group. ARMCHAIR, BOOKCASE, CONSOLE, and FOOTSTOOL form a strong furniture set once you avoid the video-game meaning of CONSOLE.
Next, the experience-level words are comparatively direct: EXPERT, INTERMEDIATE, NOVICE, and PROFICIENT. Removing those eight entries leaves a group of agreement-related terms and four unusual-looking words.
Rank #3
The unusual entries are the key to the final category. Rather than asking what CEFTAZIDIME, HEADQUARTER, MONEYPENNY, and PUMPERNICKEL mean, inspect their suffixes:
- ceftazidime
- headquarter
- moneypenny
- pumpernickel
CEFTAZIDIME is a real cephalosporin antibiotic, but its medical use is irrelevant to this puzzle. It appears only because the word ends in DIME; it is not a product recommendation or medical guidance. Likewise, the puzzle deliberately uses the singular HEADQUARTER, not the more familiar plural “headquarters,” so that the word ends in QUARTER.
The four remaining words—AGREEMENT, COMPACT, HANDSHAKE, and UNDERSTANDING—then resolve as the promise or agreement group.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Quick solution recap
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Living room furniture | ARMCHAIR, BOOKCASE, CONSOLE, FOOTSTOOL |
| Green | Experience levels | EXPERT, INTERMEDIATE, NOVICE, PROFICIENT |
| Blue | Promise | AGREEMENT, COMPACT, HANDSHAKE, UNDERSTANDING |
| Purple | Ending in U.S. coins | CEFTAZIDIME, HEADQUARTER, MONEYPENNY, PUMPERNICKEL |
Frequently Asked Questions
When was NYT Connections #946 published?
NYT Connections #946 was published on Monday, January 12, 2026. The date matters because the January 12, 2025 puzzle was a different game.
What was the trickiest category in Connections #946?
The purple category relied on word endings rather than definitions. CEFTAZIDIME ends in DIME, HEADQUARTER ends in QUARTER, MONEYPENNY ends in PENNY, and PUMPERNICKEL ends in NICKEL.
Why was CEFTAZIDIME included in the puzzle?
It ends with DIME, one of the U.S. coin names used in the purple group. Its identity as a cephalosporin antibiotic is not needed to solve the puzzle.
The Bottom Line
The cleanest path through NYT Connections #946 was to remove the living-room furniture and experience-level groups first. The remaining words split into agreement-related terms and a suffix-based coin group: DIME, QUARTER, PENNY, and NICKEL.
Quick Recap
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