Waking up to a fresh grid of sixteen words is basically a morning ritual for most of us now. Honestly, today’s puzzle—Monday, January 19, 2026—feels like the editor, Wyna Liu, is really leaning into those linguistic traps we've come to expect. You’ve probably already stared at the screen for five minutes, trying to figure out if a certain word is a verb or a noun. That's the game. It's meant to mess with your head.
If you’re stuck on the NYT Connections hints January 19 grid, you aren't alone. Sometimes you just need a tiny nudge to see the pattern that's staring you in the face.
Hints for the January 19 Categories
I’m not going to just dump the answers right away. That ruins the fun of that "aha!" moment when the tiles finally click together. Instead, let's look at what these groups are actually doing.
The yellow group is usually the most straightforward. Think about things that aren't quite solid, or maybe things that are meant to be applied to a surface. It's very "DIY project" or "home renovation" energy.
For the green group, you need to think about movement. Specifically, the kind of movement that involves letting go of something. If you've ever played sports or gotten into a heated argument with a heavy object nearby, you’ll get this one.
Blue is where things get weird. It's a classic linguistic trick. You’re looking for words that don't look like each other at all, but if you scramble the letters, they become something very specific.
Purple is, as always, the wild card. Today, it’s all about nostalgia. If you grew up before every kid had an iPad glued to their hand, these words will ring a bell. They are the starting points for games we used to play in the backyard.
The January 19 Connections Breakdown
If the hints weren't enough, here is the actual logic behind today's board.
Yellow: Spread Over
- BLANKET
- COAT
- COVER
- PLASTER
This group is all about layers. You might coat a wall with paint or plaster it with, well, plaster. A blanket of snow covers the ground. It’s simple once you see it, but "PLASTER" often tricks people into thinking about medical supplies or "Paris."
Green: Throw
- CAST
- HURL
- PELT
- SLING
Pure action here. These are all synonyms for chucking something through the air. "CAST" is the tricky one because it could also refer to a play or a medical cast. Don't let the double meanings trip you up.
Blue: Anagrams
- INKS
- KINS
- SINK
- SKIN
This is the kind of category that makes people want to throw their phones. Every single one of these words is an anagram of the others. If you weren't looking for letter swaps, you'd never find this.
Purple: First Words of Kids' Games
- CAPTURE (the Flag)
- HIDE (and Seek)
- RED (Rover)
- SIMON (Says)
The dreaded purple category. It’s a "fill-in-the-blank" style, but specifically for the starts of playground classics. Seeing "SIMON" and "RED" together is the big giveaway here, though "CAPTURE" might make you think of board games first.
Strategies for Tomorrow’s Grid
Solving Connections isn't just about knowing definitions. It’s about spotting the red herrings. For example, "SKIN" and "PLASTER" could both be medical, but that's a trap.
Always look for the "one-offs" first. If you see a word like "SIMON," ask yourself what it usually attaches to. It doesn't have many synonyms, so it’s likely part of a phrase-based category.
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Shuffle the board often. Sometimes seeing the words in a different physical order breaks the mental loop you're stuck in. It's a psychological reset that actually works.
To get better at the blue and purple tiers, try to think about the words as shapes or sounds rather than just their meanings. The New York Times loves to play with the physical properties of the words—how many syllables they have, what letters they start with, or if they contain hidden words inside them.
Start your next session by scanning for those anagrams early; they've been popping up more frequently this month. If you can knock out the "gimmick" category first, the rest of the synonyms usually fall into place much faster.
Focus on the words that have the fewest possible meanings first to anchor your guesses.
Actionable Tip
Before you click your fourth word, ask: "Is there a fifth word that fits here?" If there is, you haven't found the right category yet. The NYT always includes at least one "overlap" word to waste your mistakes. If you see five words that mean "Throw," wait and see which one belongs to a more specific group like "Medical Terms" or "First Words."