NYT Connections #935 was published for Thursday, January 1, 2026. The puzzle groups 16 words into four categories, with the trickiest turns involving NUT, the word SCOTCH, and a loose “enthusiast” category.
Spoiler warning: The progressive hints come first, followed by the complete categories and answers. Stop before the solution section if you are still solving.
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Progressive hints for Connections #935
Use these clues in order. Each one points toward a category without immediately giving away every word.
- Yellow: Think of a small piece or instance of magic.
- Green: Four words can mean taking a protective outer layer away.
- Blue: Look for words that can stand in for “enthusiast.”
- Purple: Put “butter” before each answer.
One-answer clues
- Yellow: SPELL
- Green: SHUCK
- Blue: BUFF
- Purple: FINGERS
If you want to preserve the challenge, try using those representative answers to identify the other three words in each group before continuing.
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NYT Connections #935 answers for January 1, 2026
Here is the complete word list from the puzzle:
SHUCK, SCOTCH, HEAD, RAT, CURSE, SKIN, NUT, FLY, HOUND, FINGERS, SPELL, SHELL, CHARM, BUFF, PEEL, HEX
Yellow: BIT OF MAGIC
CHARM, CURSE, HEX, SPELL
These words can describe a magical act, object, or utterance. They do not all function in exactly the same grammatical way: a charm may be an object or an enchantment, while a curse, hex, or spell can refer to magical words, actions, or effects. Their shared connection is magic rather than one narrow type of occult practice.
Green: REMOVE THE COVERING FROM
PEEL, SHELL, SHUCK, SKIN
Each word can be used as a verb meaning to remove an outer layer. You can peel fruit, shell a nut or shellfish, shuck corn or an oyster, and skin an animal or a vegetable.
NUT is the major decoy here. It naturally suggests “shell,” but it is not part of this group. The green category requires four words that describe the action of removing a covering; NUT is a noun and belongs to the purple set.
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BUFF, HEAD, HOUND, RAT
This is the loosest category, because these words are not four standalone synonyms for “enthusiast.” They work through compounds and informal expressions. A film buff is an enthusiast, while a gearhead is devoted to gear or machinery, a music or news hound avidly follows a subject, and a subject-specific rat can describe someone who collects or seeks out something.
BUFF is the clearest entry. HEAD, HOUND, and RAT become more convincing once you stop looking for four identical dictionary definitions and instead test them as suffix-like terms in compounds.
Purple: BUTTER___
FINGERS, FLY, NUT, SCOTCH
Add butter to the front of each word:
- butterfingers
- butterfly
- butternut
- butterscotch
This word-completion group is the puzzle’s key structural unlock. Once you spot butterfingers, butterfly, butternut, and butterscotch, both NUT and SCOTCH are removed from tempting alternative groups.
Why NUT is the trap in today’s puzzle
The grid deliberately places several words near the idea of an outer covering: PEEL, SHELL, SHUCK, SKIN, and NUT. A nut can be shelled, so it is easy to treat it as a fifth possible member of the green category.
Best Value
- Find hundreds of words in an easy to read format - Some words you'll spot easily, but you'll have to search hard for others.
- A wide range of puzzle topics, including movies, actors, sports, cars, and more!
- Variations on the standard word search puzzles are included for extra challenge.
- Answer key in the back of the book.
- Spiral bound, 192 pages.
Connections groups contain exactly four answers, however, and the grammatical distinction helps resolve the decoy. PEEL, SHELL, SHUCK, and SKIN can all serve as verbs meaning “remove the covering.” NUT does not fit that same verb pattern. Testing common compounds reveals its intended home: BUTTERNUT.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to solve the hardest parts of Connections #935
- Lock in the direct magic group. CHARM, CURSE, HEX, and SPELL share a clear magical meaning.
- Look for exact word completions. FINGERS, FLY, NUT, and SCOTCH all follow “butter” to form familiar words or expressions.
- Separate actions from objects. PEEL, SHELL, SHUCK, and SKIN are the four covering-removal verbs. Do not let NUT create a fifth candidate.
- Leave the broadest category until last. BUFF is the strongest “enthusiast” clue; HEAD, HOUND, and RAT make sense through compounds and informal usage.
- Do not commit while five words seem plausible. In this puzzle, recognizing the purple compound pattern is what removes the biggest decoy and makes the remaining blue group workable.
Keep playing
Readers who enjoyed this category-matching format can continue with a Connections puzzle book, including Connections: Find the Common Threads in 100+ Puzzles of Wit and Wordplay. A broader collection such as Puzzle Mania! also includes new spins on Connections alongside other New York Times Games-style puzzles. Availability and retail options may vary by location.
The Bottom Line
Today’s solving lesson: test exact compounds, pay attention to grammatical roles, and be wary of a category that appears to have five possible members. For #935, “butter___” is the decisive pattern: it claims FINGERS, FLY, NUT, and SCOTCH, leaving the four covering-removal verbs and the looser enthusiast compounds in place.
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