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These are the hints and answers for NYT Connections puzzle #946, dated Monday, January 12, 2026. To avoid spoilers, start with the category nudges and reveal the groupings only when you’re ready.
Hints for Connections #946
Try the nudges before opening the word list or answers below.
- Yellow: You might see these lounging around.
- Green: You might reach one of these after 10,000 hours of practice.
- Blue: Locked in.
- Purple: Change comes to those who wait.
One-word reveals
If a nudge isn’t enough, these words point toward each group without giving away all four answers.
- Yellow: CONSOLE
- Green: INTERMEDIATE
- Blue: UNDERSTANDING
- Purple: CEFTAZIDIME
The 16 words
HANDSHAKE, COMPACT, ARMCHAIR, EXPERT, CONSOLE, HEADQUARTER, NOVICE, FOOTSTOOL, UNDERSTANDING, PUMPERNICKEL, PROFICIENT, AGREEMENT, CEFTAZIDIME, INTERMEDIATE, BOOKCASE, MONEYPENNY.
#1 Best Overall
Answers for Connections #946
Yellow: Living room furniture
- ARMCHAIR
- BOOKCASE
- CONSOLE
- FOOTSTOOL
Green: Experience levels
- EXPERT
- INTERMEDIATE
- NOVICE
- PROFICIENT
Blue: Promise
- AGREEMENT
- COMPACT
- HANDSHAKE
- UNDERSTANDING
Purple: Words ending in U.S. coins
- CEFTAZIDIME
- HEADQUARTER
- MONEYPENNY
- PUMPERNICKEL
The purple group uses the final word of each answer: dime, quarter, penny, and nickel. The longer words’ ordinary meanings are a distraction. The other groups follow more directly from furniture, skill levels, and forms of a promise; for example, a compact can mean a formal agreement.
How Connections works
Connections presents 16 words or other items and asks you to sort them into four groups of four. You can play the daily puzzle on the NYT website or in the NYT Games app. Forbes describes access to the archive of past games as included with an NYT Games or All Access subscription; check current access terms with NYT before relying on that detail.
Rank #2
For puzzle #946, the number of mistakes allowed before the game ends is three: a fourth incorrect guess ends the game.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Answer confirmation
Forbes, Parade, and TechRadar all identify the same puzzle number, word list, categories, and answers. Their guides were published January 11 or January 12, 2026. An accessible official NYT answer page was not available among the cited sources, so this answer is corroborated across those three publications rather than verified against an official solution page.
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