"Connections" January 1: Hints and answers for puzzle #570

Happy New Year, Connections players! If the holiday isn't stopping you from playing, Newsweek is here to help you beat today's puzzle.

The popular brainteaser was launched by The New York Times in June 2023 and has gone on to become the newspaper's second-most played game behind Wordle, another word-based puzzle.

Connections challenges players to uncover threads connecting a series of words. Instructions on how to play the game are below. Clues and the answers for today's puzzle are toward the end of the article.

How To Play 'Connections'

Every day, Connections presents players with a grid of 16 words. The objective is to organize these words into four groups of four, based on shared themes or characteristics.

The four groups are color-coded by difficulty: yellow (easiest), green, blue, and purple (most challenging). Select four words you believe form a group, and, if correct, those words will be highlighted and removed from the board. The color corresponding to the group will be revealed, indicating the expected difficulty.

The familiarity of the words used and how often they pop up in modern life are also difficulty factors, although less-common words aren't only used in the harder categories. "Item overlap," where one word can be linked to multiple categories, is another way Connections tests players.

Players have up to four chances to guess incorrectly before the game ends. There is no time constraint, so no need to rush things. You can also shuffle the words on the board to help spot connections you might have missed initially.

In June, Connections developer and NYT crossword editor Wyna Liu shared details with Newsweek on how she builds the games "from scratch," saying she has a notebook for when inspiration may strike.

"I usually don't know where a board is going to go," Liu said. "It really does a long time to fudge things and try different angles."

She added that her "best piece advice" to conquer the game "is to wait as long as you can before guessing."

'Connections' #570 Clues for Wednesday, January 1

Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today's Connections categories.

Yellow: Different creatures that all have one thing in common.

Green: Various things that glow.

Blue: Objects that all represent a European country.

Purple: These answers end with different words that all have the same meaning.

'Connections' #570 Answers for Wednesday, January 1

Yellow Category: SLIMY ANIMALS

Yellow Words: Earthworm, Eels, Salamander, Slug

Green Category: LUMINESCENT THINGS

Green Words: Aurora, Firefly, Glowstick, Radium

Blue Category: DUTCH SYMBOLS

Blue Words: Canal, Clog, Tulip, Windmill

Purple Category: ENDING WITH SYNONYMS FOR "PLUNGE"

Purple Words: Gatecrash, Raindrop, Skydive, Waterfall

Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations. If not, there will be another opportunity to crack the puzzle tomorrow.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back tomorrow with another round of hints and tips for each new game.