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Today's NYT Connections puzzle has a butt joke! Or four, actually. The purple category is super bizarre, too. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today's Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Extra, extra!
Green group hint: Wrap around.
Blue group hint: NFL duties.
Purple group hint: Derriere.
Answers for today's Connections groups
Yellow group: Paper publication.
Green group: Spool.
Blue group: Things a defensive football player does.
Purple group: Synonyms for butt plus starting letter.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today's Connections answers?
The completed NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 4, 2026.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today's Connections
The theme is paper publication. The four answers are copy, edition, issue and print.
The green words in today's Connections
The theme is spool. The four answers are coil, crank, reel and wind.
The blue words in today's Connections
The theme is things a defensive football player does. The four answers are blitz, block, sack and tackle.
The purple words in today's Connections
The theme is synonyms for butt plus starting letter. The four answers are drear (rear), etail (tail), grump (rump) and scan (can).
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