NYT Connections Puzzle #956 for Thursday, January 22, 2026, splits into image descriptions, fruit desserts, ways to bungle something, and magazine titles with one extra letter. Hints come first, followed by the full answers and an explanation of the puzzle’s main traps.
Spoiler warning: The complete solution to the Thursday, January 22, 2026, NYT Connections puzzle (#956) appears below. If you are still solving, start with the hints and stop before the answer key.
Hints for Connections #956
Here are the four categories, from broadest to most specific:
- Yellow: Photographic language describing an image with clearly visible detail.
- Green: Desserts made with or associated with fruit.
- Blue: Ways to mess something up.
- Purple: Magazine titles with one additional letter.
The purple category is the least literal. The four completed words can each be split into the name of a magazine followed by one extra letter.
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NYT Connections #956 answers for January 22, 2026
The 16 answers divide into these four groups:
| Category | Answers |
|---|---|
| Well-defined, as an image | CLEAR, CRISP, DISTINCT, SHARP |
| Fruit desserts | COBBLER, CRUMBLE, STRUDEL, TURNOVER |
| Bungle | FLUFF, FUMBLE, MISS, TRIP |
| Magazines plus a letter | ELLEN, SPINY, TIMER, USE |
Yellow: WELL-DEFINED, AS AN IMAGE
- CLEAR
- CRISP
- DISTINCT
- SHARP
Each of these words can describe an image with easily visible detail. A clear, crisp, distinct or sharp image has well-defined edges and features.
Green: FRUIT DESSERTS
- COBBLER
- CRUMBLE
- STRUDEL
- TURNOVER
These are all desserts commonly made with fruit. A turnover is a pastry filled with fruit, while cobbler, crumble and strudel are familiar baked fruit desserts or pastries.
Blue: BUNGLE
- FLUFF
- FUMBLE
- MISS
- TRIP
As verbs, all four can describe making a mistake or mishandling something. To fluff a line, fumble a task, miss an opportunity or trip over an explanation is to bungle it.
Rank #2
Purple: MAGAZINES PLUS A LETTER
- ELLEN = ELLE + N
- SPINY = SPIN + Y
- TIMER = TIME + R
- USE = US + E
This group becomes visible only after splitting each answer into a magazine title and one extra letter:
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors| Board word | Magazine | Extra letter |
|---|---|---|
| ELLEN | ELLE | N |
| SPINY | SPIN | Y |
| TIMER | TIME | R |
| USE | US | E |
Why this puzzle was tricky
Connections deliberately places words in tempting semantic neighborhoods, and Puzzle #956 had several convincing decoys.
CRISP looks like a fruit dessert
A fruit crisp is a real dessert, so CRISP is an understandable choice for the green group. It does not belong there in this puzzle, however. The intended dessert set is COBBLER, CRUMBLE, STRUDEL and TURNOVER, leaving CRISP with CLEAR, DISTINCT and SHARP as image descriptions.
Rank #3
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FUMBLE and TURNOVER suggest football
FUMBLE and TURNOVER can both evoke football terminology. That apparent connection is a trap: TURNOVER is the pastry, while FUMBLE belongs with FLUFF, MISS and TRIP, all words that can mean bungle.
FLUFF has an easy-to-miss verb sense
Many solvers first associate FLUFF with something light and soft or with unimportant material. In this puzzle, it is used as a verb meaning to make a mistake or perform poorly—for example, to fluff an answer or a line.
The purple group is wordplay rather than a subject category
ELLEN, SPINY, TIMER and USE do not share an obvious meaning. The category appears only when the words are treated as constructions: each contains a magazine title followed by one extra letter. That unusual mechanism is why the purple group is best saved until the more direct sets have been tested.
Rank #4
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Full word bank
TIMER, FUMBLE, SPINY, SHARP, TURNOVER, ELLEN, CRISP, MISS, USE, CLEAR, COBBLER, TRIP, CRUMBLE, FLUFF, DISTINCT, STRUDEL.
A practical way to solve puzzles with overlapping words
- Start with the most specific cluster. Four obvious fruit desserts—COBBLER, CRUMBLE, STRUDEL and TURNOVER—form a stronger set than a looser group built around CRISP.
- Check each proposed group for a fourth word. CLEAR, DISTINCT and SHARP become convincing only when CRISP is interpreted as an image description rather than a dessert.
- Test parts of speech. FLUFF is less familiar as a verb, but its verb sense makes it fit naturally beside FUMBLE, MISS and TRIP.
- Do not overcommit to a shared setting. FUMBLE and TURNOVER may point toward football, but two related words are not enough to establish a group of four.
- Look for construction-based patterns among leftovers. When the remaining words seem unrelated, try splitting them into titles, abbreviations, names or other smaller components.
More puzzles in print
If you enjoy the game but want an offline option, The New York Times Connections puzzle book, Connections: Find the Common Threads in 100+ Puzzles of Wit and Wordplay, is a print collection of additional Connections-style puzzles. It is an optional companion for readers who want more wordplay away from the daily board. Product availability and retailer listings can change, and the collection should not be assumed to contain Puzzle #956 unless the listing specifically says so.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How NYT Connections works
Connections presents 16 words and asks players to divide them into four groups of four. The challenge is not simply finding relationships; it is identifying the intended relationship while rejecting plausible overlaps. A word can fit a tempting category without belonging to the published solution, as CRISP and TURNOVER demonstrate here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the categories in NYT Connections Puzzle #956?
The four categories are “well-defined, as an image,” “fruit desserts,” “bungle,” and “magazines plus a letter.”
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What is the purple group in Connections #956?
The purple answers are ELLEN, SPINY, TIMER and USE. They split into ELLE + N, SPIN + Y, TIME + R and US + E.
What were the red herrings in the January 22 Connections puzzle?
CRISP belongs in the yellow image-description group, not the green dessert group. TURNOVER is one of the fruit desserts, while FUMBLE belongs in the blue “bungle” group.
The Bottom Line
The January 22, 2026, Connections #956 solution is: CLEAR, CRISP, DISTINCT, SHARP; COBBLER, CRUMBLE, STRUDEL, TURNOVER; FLUFF, FUMBLE, MISS, TRIP; and ELLEN, SPINY, TIMER, USE. The key traps are CRISP as a seemingly valid fruit dessert, TURNOVER as football terminology, and the magazine-plus-letter wordplay in the purple group.
Quick Recap
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