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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 errorsSpoiler warning: This page gives graduated hints and the complete answers for NYT Connections #574, published on Sunday, January 5, 2025. If you are still solving, start with the category hints and reveal the groups only when you need them.
The four categories are Hardly bustling, Earn, Remote control functions, and Words before “drum”.
NYT Connections #574 hints for January 5
Connections asks you to divide 16 words into four groups of four. The categories can overlap in misleading ways, so use these hints in order rather than jumping straight to the solution.
- Yellow: These words can describe a place or situation with very little activity.
- Green: Think of different ways to say “earn” or produce income.
- Blue: Several of these words appear as buttons or functions on a television or media remote.
- Purple: Add the same word after each answer. The resulting phrases refer to different types of drums.
The 16 words in Connections #574
The puzzle grid contained:
STOP, GROSS, MAKE, HOME, YIELD, VOLUME, SLOW, SNARE, QUIET, KETTLE, NET, MUTE, EAR, SLEEPY, OIL, CALM
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Answers for NYT Connections #574
Spoilers below. The complete groups are listed here, followed by an explanation of the wordplay and the puzzle’s main traps.
Yellow: HARDLY BUSTLING
CALM, QUIET, SLEEPY, SLOW
Each word can describe a place, period, or environment that is not busy or active. A calm or quiet neighborhood is hardly bustling, while a sleepy town and a slow afternoon suggest the same lack of activity.
SLEEPY is the less immediate entry. It can describe a tired person, but here it works as an adjective for an unhurried or inactive setting, as in a “sleepy town.”
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Green: EARN
GROSS, MAKE, NET, YIELD
These words can describe generating income or returns. A business can gross or make money, and it can net a particular amount after deductions. An investment or asset can yield income or a return.
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GROSS is the main decoy in this group because it can also mean disgusting. In the financial sense intended here, however, “gross” refers to an amount before deductions or to money generated.
Blue: REMOTE CONTROL FUNCTIONS
HOME, MUTE, STOP, VOLUME
These are familiar controls or functions on television, video, and other media remotes. Home returns to a main screen, mute silences the sound, stop halts playback, and volume adjusts the audio level.
Rank #3
HOME and VOLUME are deliberately broad words. Home can suggest a location, while volume can suggest a quantity or measurement. Their connection becomes clearer once mute and stop are spotted as media controls.
Purple: WORDS BEFORE “DRUM”
EAR, KETTLE, OIL, SNARE
Place DRUM after each word:
- ear drum
- kettle drum
- oil drum
- snare drum
This is the most wordplay-heavy category. Eardrum is the membrane involved in hearing; a kettledrum is a percussion instrument; an oil drum is a large cylindrical container; and a snare drum is a percussion instrument with wires or “snares” stretched across its lower head.
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The biggest trap: EAR, VOLUME, and MUTE
The overlap among EAR, VOLUME, and MUTE is the puzzle’s most important deduction point. An ear is related to hearing, and volume and mute are both associated with sound. That can make the three look like a possible sound-related group.
The intended blue category is confirmed by HOME and STOP, which are also remote controls. Once those four are together, EAR is freed for the compound phrase ear drum, completing the purple group.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to solve this puzzle without giving away the answer
- Start with the obvious controls: MUTE and VOLUME strongly suggest media, but do not commit until you test the remaining words. HOME and STOP complete the remote-control set.
- Separate meanings from associations: GROSS may mean disgusting, but MAKE, NET, and YIELD point toward earning money. Prefer the shared meaning that uses all four words cleanly.
- Look for a setting rather than a person: SLEEPY is not necessarily about someone who needs rest. Alongside CALM, QUIET, and SLOW, it describes a low-activity environment.
- Test common compounds: EAR, KETTLE, OIL, and SNARE all form recognizable phrases with DRUM. This is stronger than the looser sound association involving EAR, VOLUME, and MUTE.
Want more screen-free word puzzles?
Readers who enjoy grouping words into categories may also like The New York Times Games: Puzzle Mania!, a physical 224-page collection described as including Connections-style challenges alongside Wordle, Spelling Bee, crosswords, trivia, and other games. It is a related printed puzzle collection, not a claim that it contains this exact archived puzzle #574, and availability may vary by retailer.
The Bottom Line
NYT Connections #574, from January 5, 2025, answers: CALM, QUIET, SLEEPY, SLOW for “Hardly bustling”; GROSS, MAKE, NET, YIELD for “Earn”; HOME, MUTE, STOP, VOLUME for “Remote control functions”; and EAR, KETTLE, OIL, SNARE for “Words before ‘drum.’”
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