Honestly, some mornings you just want to drink your coffee without a word puzzle making you feel like you've forgotten how English works. But here we are. It is January 31, 2026, and the NYT Connections grid is staring us down. This game has a funny way of making the most common words feel like complete strangers.
If you’re stuck on today's NYT Connections hints January 31, don’t sweat it. You've got four mistakes to play with, but those disappear fast when the red herrings start biting.
What’s the Vibe of Today’s Puzzle?
The difficulty curve in Connections is usually pretty predictable, but today feels a bit... cheeky. You’ll see words that look like they belong in a kitchen, others that seem related to the human body, and maybe a few that feel like they're just there to annoy you.
Basically, the trick today is to look at the words that have two meanings. If a word only means one thing, it's probably your anchor. If it means three things, it’s the trap. Wyna Liu and the team at the Times love a good "body part" distraction, so keep your eyes peeled for those.
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Hints for Each Color Category
Sometimes you don't want the full answer. You just want a nudge. A little "hey, look over here." Here is a breakdown of what each group is actually about without giving away the specific words yet.
The Yellow Group Hint
This is the "straightforward" category. Think about objects that hold other objects. If you were moving house or going on a long trip a hundred years ago, you’d be using these.
The Green Group Hint
This one is all about the face. More specifically, it’s about a part of the face that people have about a thousand different nicknames for. Some of these nicknames are a bit more "old-timey" or slangy than others.
The Blue Group Hint
You’ve met these people. They’re the ones who tell you your favorite movie is "derivative" or that the wine has "notes of damp basement." This category focuses on people with very specific, refined tastes.
The Purple Group Hint
This is the one that usually makes people throw their phones. Today, the connection isn't about what the words are, but what they start. Specifically, think about Olympic pool events.
Detailed Breakdown of the January 31 Words
If those hints didn't do the trick, let’s look at the actual words on the board. We've got things like CASE, SNOUT, EXPERT, and BUTTER.
Wait, BUTTER?
That’s the one that trips people up. Most people think of toast. Some people think of goats. But in the context of this puzzle, you have to think about the Butterfly stroke. Once you see BACK, BREAST, and FREE, the swimming theme (the starts of strokes) clicks into place.
It’s a classic Connections move. They take a word like FREE—which could mean anything—and pair it with BUTTER, which feels totally unrelated, until you realize they are both prefixes for swimming styles.
The "Nose" Trap
You might see TRUNK and immediately want to put it with SNOUT or BEAK. It makes sense, right? An elephant's trunk is its nose. But in this grid, TRUNK is actually doing double duty. It’s a storage container. If you try to put it with the "schnozz" group, the game might tell you you’re "one away," which is the ultimate "gotcha" moment.
Today's Connections Answers (January 31)
If you're done guessing and just want to save your streak, here are the finalized groups.
- Yellow (Storage Containers): CASE, CHEST, CRATE, TRUNK
- Green (Schnozz): BEAK, HONKER, SNOOT, SNOUT
- Blue (Ones With Discerning Tastes): CONNOISSEUR, CRITIC, EXPERT, SNOB
- Purple (Starts of Swimming Strokes): BACK, BREAST, BUTTER, FREE
Why was this one tricky?
The overlap between CHEST (a body part) and CHEST (a box) is intentional. Then you have BACK and BREAST, which are also body parts but belong to the swimming group. It’s a masterclass in linguistic overlap. If you struggled with this one, you aren't alone—the "body part" red herring was incredibly strong today.
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Tips for Tomorrow's Puzzle
To avoid the "one away" heartbreak tomorrow, try this: don't hit submit on your first four. Find five words that fit a category. If you can find five, it means one of them definitely belongs somewhere else.
Also, look for the most specific word on the board. A word like CONNOISSEUR really only has one vibe. Use that as your anchor and build the group around it. If you start with the vague words like CASE or FREE, you’ll get lost in the possibilities.
Now that you've cleared the January 31 board, you can go back to your coffee. Or go for a swim. Just don't think about "butter" while you're doing it.
To keep your brain sharp for tomorrow, try looking at the grid and identifying the "hidden" category before you even make your first selection. It helps to spot the themes before the board gets cluttered.