It is a weird Sunday morning, and honestly, the NYT Connections grid for January 18, 2026, feels a bit like a trap designed by someone who really loves Turner Classic Movies. If you’ve been staring at the screen for twenty minutes wondering why "Peck" and "Bill" are hanging out together, you're not alone. I almost fell for the "bird" bait too.
NYT Connections mashable hints today are all about avoiding the obvious distractions while looking for those slightly more sophisticated categories. This isn't just a word game; it's a lesson in cognitive bias. The designers know you'll see a word like "Webbing" and immediately think of spiders or maybe scuba gear. But then they throw in "Feathers," and suddenly your brain is screaming "Duck!"
Actually, that might be the one time your brain is right.
Getting the Hang of Today's Grid
The Sunday puzzle, specifically game #952, has a distinct split between physical objects and cultural trivia. You've got 16 words. They look like a mess. They sort of are a mess. But there’s a logic here that rewards a broad vocabulary and a bit of a "nerd" streak for old Hollywood.
Need a Nudge?
Before we get into the full breakdown, here are some vague nudges to get your gears turning.
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- Yellow Category: Think about what you see at a local park pond. Specifically, the anatomy of the things swimming in it.
- Green Category: This is about total destruction. If you were in a "rage room," these are the verbs you’d be living out.
- Blue Category: Imagine you’re at a bookstore, looking at the back of a thriller. What information is printed there?
- Purple Category: This is the "trivia" zone. If you don't know your leading men from the 1940s and 50s, this is going to be your toughest quadrant.
Breaking Down the Categories
The Yellow Category is titled Features of a Duck. It’s the most straightforward group today, but it still has a couple of words that might make you pause. "Bill" and "Wings" are easy. "Feathers" is a gimme. "Webbing" is the one that might make you think of something else first.
Wait.
Did you notice "Peck" and "Price"? Those could easily be mistaken for bird-related actions or commercial terms. They aren't. They belong elsewhere.
The Green Category is simply Destroy. This is a collection of synonyms for making something non-functional.
- Break
- Damage
- Total (Think of an insurance claim on a car)
- Wreck
"Total" is the clever one here. Most people see that and think of a sum or a math problem. Using it as a verb for "completely destroying a vehicle" is exactly the kind of linguistic pivot the New York Times loves to use to throw you off.
Moving to the Blue Category, we find Found on a Book Jacket. If you're a reader, you probably clicked these together fairly quickly. We’re talking about the Author, the Title, the Synopsis (that blurb that tells you what the book is about), and a Quote from a reviewer.
Finally, we hit the Purple Category. This is Classic Hollywood Actors. If you haven't seen To Kill a Mockingbird or North by Northwest, you might struggle.
- Cooper (Gary)
- Grant (Cary)
- Peck (Gregory)
- Price (Vincent)
Vincent Price is the outlier here for some, as he’s so heavily associated with horror, but he's undoubtedly a legend of the era.
Why Today Was Tricky
The overlap between "Peck" (the actor) and "Peck" (a bird's action) is classic Connections. The game is basically a test of your ability to compartmentalize. You see "Bill" and think "Price," and suddenly you're looking for a category about money. Then you see "Grant" and think "Author," and you're looking for a category about historical figures.
It’s a shell game.
One thing that helps is the "Shuffle" button. Seriously. Use it. Sometimes just seeing the words in a different physical location on the grid breaks the mental loop you've been stuck in.
NYT Connections Mashable Hints Today: The Full Solution
If you're just looking for the answers to get your streak saved, here is the final breakdown for the January 18 puzzle.
- Yellow (Features of a Duck): Bill, Feathers, Webbing, Wings
- Green (Destroy): Break, Damage, Total, Wreck
- Blue (Found on a Book Jacket): Author, Quote, Synopsis, Title
- Purple (Classic Hollywood Actors): Cooper, Grant, Peck, Price
Interestingly, today’s puzzle also coincided with the NYT Connections Sports Edition, which had a completely different set of challenges involving the Big Ten and NFL home cities. It’s a busy day for word nerds.
For those playing the main game, the best way to handle these puzzles is to look for the "most unique" word first. A word like "Webbing" or "Synopsis" usually only has one or two possible homes. Common words like "Break" or "Bill" are the ones designed to lure you into a mistake.
If you're still stuck on the grid, try focusing on the names. Once you realize Cooper, Grant, and Peck are all actors, the rest of the puzzle usually collapses into place.
To improve your game tomorrow, try reading the words out loud. Sometimes hearing the word helps you recognize its secondary meanings in a way that just looking at the letters doesn't.
Now, go clear that grid before the midnight reset.