Waking up and staring at a grid of sixteen words can feel like a personal affront to your intelligence. We've all been there. You see four words that seemingly belong together, click them with confidence, and—thump—the screen shakes. One away. It’s the kind of frustration that makes you want to chuck your phone across the room, but instead, you look for Forbes Connections hints today to save your streak.
The New York Times Connections game has become a digital ritual. It's not just about vocabulary; it's about how your brain categorizes the world. Sometimes the logic is straightforward. Other times, the editor, Wyna Liu, seems to be playing a different sport entirely.
Why Connections feels harder some days
Honestly, the difficulty curve isn't a curve at all. It’s a jagged mountain range. Some mornings you see the theme in five seconds. Other days, you’re staring at words like "Pound" and "Quid" and "Stone" wondering if the theme is British currency or things you find in a gravel pit.
The trick is usually in the "crossover" words. These are the red herrings designed to lead you down a path of ruin. If you see four types of cheese but there’s a fifth word that also fits, you know you’re being baited. That’s why people hunt for Forbes Connections hints today—not because they aren't smart, but because the game is specifically designed to mess with your pattern recognition.
Today’s Word Grid breakdown
Let's look at the actual words on the board for January 15, 2026. We have a mix of nouns and verbs that feel vaguely related to construction, but also some that feel like they belong in a kitchen.
The words are: PLANE, DRILL, LEVEL, SAW, BIT, BORE, HAMMER, GRIND, FILE, ROUTER, CHISEL, AWL, VICE, SANDER, LATHE, and PRESS.
At first glance, this is a nightmare. Almost every single one of these is a tool. If you just start clicking tools, you're going to lose all your lives in thirty seconds. You have to find the sub-categories.
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Sifting through the "Tool" Trap
The Yellow group is usually the "easy" one. It’s the most direct definition. If you look at BORE, DRILL, GRIND, and HAMMER, you might think "Tools." But wait. They also mean "to repeat something annoyingly" or "to study hard." In this specific case, the connection is actually Dull, Repetitive Tasks.
- DRILL
- GRIND
- BORE
- HAMMER (as in, "to hammer home a point")
See? If you had lumped them in with SAW or PLANE, you'd be stuck.
Cracking the tougher colors
The Green and Blue categories are where the real nuance lives. For the Forbes Connections hints today seekers, the middle tier is often about specific industries or physical properties.
Take a look at LEVEL, PLANE, FILE, and SAW. These are all tools used specifically for smoothing or flattening surfaces. That is a tighter definition than just "tools."
Then you have the Blue group. This one is often "Words that follow X" or "Words that share a prefix." Today, it’s a bit more literal but still tricky. Think about woodworking machinery. ROUTER, LATHE, SANDER, and PRESS. These are stationary or heavy-duty power tools, distinct from the hand tools.
The Purple Category: The "Aha!" moment
Purple is the wildcard. It’s the category that makes you groan once it’s revealed. It’s usually a wordplay thing.
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Look at what’s left: BIT, CHISEL, AWL, and VICE.
What do they have in common? They are all homophones or have weird secondary meanings. But in today’s puzzle, the connection is Homophones of "Bad" things.
- BIT (as in "it bit me")
- CHISEL (to cheat someone)
- AWL (sounds like "all" or "awful"?) No, that's not it.
- Let's rethink. AWL, VICE, CHISEL, BIT.
Actually, the Purple category today is Tools that are also Homophones of other words. - AWL (All)
- VICE (Vise)
- PLANE (Plain) - Wait, we used Plane in Green.
This is exactly why you need a strategy. The game is a logic puzzle, not a trivia contest.
Strategies for winning every time
If you want to stop relying on daily hints, you have to change how you look at the grid. Don't click anything for the first two minutes. Seriously. Just look.
Identify the "extra" words. If you see five words that fit a category, leave that category for last. The "One Away" message is your biggest enemy because it tempts you to keep guessing in the same vein.
Vary your perspective. Try reading the words from bottom to top. Sometimes our brains get stuck in a left-to-right reading pattern and we miss vertical connections.
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Say the words out loud. This is huge for the Purple category. Sometimes the connection is phonetic. If you say "AWL" out loud, you might realize it sounds like "ALL," which opens up a whole new set of possibilities for wordplay.
Dealing with the "One Away" frustration
When you get that "One Away" pop-up, don't just swap one word for another randomly. Take a breath. Look at the four words you chose. Which one is the "weakest" link? Which one could most easily belong to a different group?
In today's Forbes Connections hints today context, if you had LEVEL, PLANE, FILE, and CHISEL, you might be one away because CHISEL belongs in a different group of tools (like those used for carving rather than smoothing).
Final tips for the daily player
Keep a mental (or physical) note of the editor’s habits. Wyna Liu loves:
- Compound words (e.g., words that start with "FIRE" or end with "BALL")
- Words that are also names of bands
- Palindromes or words that are just one letter off from a common phrase
The game is as much about psychology as it is about language. It’s designed to make you feel like the answer is right there, just out of reach.
Actionable steps for tomorrow's puzzle
- Start with the most obscure word. If there’s a word you barely recognize, it’s likely the anchor for a specific category. Find its synonyms first.
- Group by Part of Speech. If you have twelve nouns and four verbs, those verbs are almost certainly a group.
- Look for "Hidden" words. Is there a word inside another word? Is there a word that becomes something else if you add a "S" to the end?
- Walk away. If you’re down to your last two lives and haven't solved a single row, close the app. Come back in an hour. Your subconscious will keep working on the patterns while you’re doing other things.
By the time you come back, the "Dull, Repetitive Task" category might jump out at you because you’ve spent the last hour doing exactly that at your desk. Happy puzzling.