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Looking for the NYT Connections answers for January 1, 2026? Puzzle #935 asks you to sort 16 words into four groups of four. The broad clues are below, followed by one-word nudges. The complete categories and answer key appear farther down the page.
Spoiler warning: Stop before the full-answer section if you are still solving.
NYT Connections hints for January 1, 2026
Here are the four category ideas, from the broadest clue to a more specific representative answer:
| Color | Broad clue | One-answer hint |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Something associated with magic or supernatural influence | SPELL |
| Green | Actions involving removing an outer layer or covering | SHUCK |
| Blue | A word that can mean an enthusiast or devoted fan | BUFF |
| Purple | Each answer can follow the word “butter” | FINGERS |
Extra solving clue
The purple group is a useful place to start if you see it: FINGERS, FLY, NUT, and SCOTCH can all follow “butter.” Removing those four words makes the less obvious blue group easier to identify.
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Full NYT Connections answers for January 1, 2026
The answers are below.
Yellow: BIT OF MAGIC
CHARM, CURSE, HEX, SPELL
Each word can refer to a magical effect, supernatural influence, or magical utterance. “Charm,” “curse,” and “hex” can describe forms of magic, while a “spell” can be an incantation or magical effect.
Green: REMOVE THE COVERING FROM
PEEL, SHELL, SHUCK, SKIN
These verbs describe removing an exterior covering. You can peel a fruit, shell a nut, shuck corn, or skin a food.
Blue: “ENTHUSIAST” EQUIVALENT
BUFF, HEAD, HOUND, RAT
These words can form compounds or expressions for a devoted enthusiast: a sports buff, gearhead, news hound, or gym rat. The last two are more dependent on familiar compounds than on being universal standalone synonyms for “enthusiast.”
Purple: BUTTER_____
FINGERS, FLY, NUT, SCOTCH
Add “butter” to the front of each word to make butterfingers, butterfly, butternut, and butterscotch.
Why this puzzle can be misleading
NUT is the key red herring. “Nut” can sometimes describe an enthusiast or an eccentric person, so it may look like a possible member of the blue group. In this puzzle, however, it belongs with the purple answers because of butternut.
The blue category is also less direct than the others. “Buff” is the clearest enthusiast term, but HEAD, HOUND, and RAT become convincing when read as parts of compounds such as gearhead, newshound, and gym rat.
How NYT Connections works
Connections presents 16 words. Your task is to divide them into four groups of four based on a shared connection. You can make up to four incorrect guesses. The completed groups are shown in four colors, generally ordered from yellow as the easiest to purple as the most difficult.
A new puzzle is released each day, generally at midnight in the player’s local time zone. For January 1, 2026, the puzzle number is #935.
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Complete word grid
The 16 entries in puzzle #935 were:
SHUCK, SCOTCH, HEAD, RAT, CURSE, SKIN, NUT, FLY, HOUND, FINGERS, SPELL, SHELL, CHARM, BUFF, PEEL, HEX
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the NYT Connections answer for January 1, 2026?
Puzzle #935 groups the words into BIT OF MAGIC; REMOVE THE COVERING FROM; “ENTHUSIAST” EQUIVALENT; and BUTTER_____. The complete answers are listed above.
What is the purple group in Connections #935?
The purple group is BUTTER_____: FINGERS, FLY, NUT, and SCOTCH.
Why is NUT not in the enthusiast group?
Although “nut” can sometimes refer to an enthusiast, it belongs to the purple group because it completes the familiar word “butternut.”
The Bottom Line
The January 1, 2026 NYT Connections puzzle is #935. Its four groups are CHARM, CURSE, HEX, SPELL; PEEL, SHELL, SHUCK, SKIN; BUFF, HEAD, HOUND, RAT; and FINGERS, FLY, NUT, SCOTCH.
Quick Recap
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