NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, January 9 (game #943)

Date:
Thu, 08 Jan 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Description:
Looking for NYT Connections answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, plus my commentary on the puzzles.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Looking for a different day? A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each
day for your time zone which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, January 8 (game #942) .

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers. NYT Connections today (game #943) - today's words (Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are FORTH LEST CARDINAL DIRECTION 8 BALL SOLO CUP NON BLONDES OAST 3 BALL THIN ICE HEART EMOJI CHAINZ 6 MAFIA DEEP END
COUTH LIMB NYT Connections today (game #943) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups? YELLOW: Connected by the color of blood GREEN: Featured in dangerous scenarios BLUE: Groups with a missing numeral PURPLE: Altered compass points

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles NYT
Connections today (game #943) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups? YELLOW: THINGS THAT ARE RED GREEN: USED IN METAPHORS FOR PRECARIOUS SITUATIONS BLUE: MUSICAL ARTISTS MINUS STARTING NUMBERS PURPLE: CARDINAL DIRECTIONS WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGED

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM. NYT Connections today (game #943) - the answers (Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #943, are YELLOW: THINGS THAT ARE
RED 3 BALL, CARDINAL, HEART EMOJI, SOLO CUP GREEN: USED IN METAPHORS FOR PRECARIOUS SITUATIONS 8 BALL, DEEP END, LIMB, THIN ICE BLUE: MUSICAL ARTISTS MINUS STARTING NUMBERS 6 MAFIA, CHAINZ, DIRECTION, NON BLONDES PURPLE: CARDINAL DIRECTIONS WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGED COUTH, FORTH, LEST, OAST My rating: Hard My score: 2 mistakes

Seeing NON BLONDES immediately made me think of the Four Non Blondes, but finding the other missing numbers was more difficult. One Direction I know, but CHAINZ was a lucky guess as was 6 MAFIA, which I got on my third attempt.

Knowing that clues for groups often feature among the tiles for a different category I managed to spot south, north, west and east disguised as COUTH, FORTH, LEST and OAST.

Once again the yellow/easiest group eluded me and I completely overlooked
that the connection was THINGS THAT ARE RED. Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, January 8, game #942) YELLOW: BIT OF A RESPONSE TO STRONG EMOTIONS CHILL, GOOSEBUMP, SHIVER, TINGLE GREEN: BREAK THE RULES JAYWALK, LITTER, LOITER, SPEED BLUE: FIRST-CLASS LEVERS CLOTHESPIN, CROWBAR, SCISSORS, SEESAW PURPLE: STARTING WITH CANDY BARS AEROPLANE, DOVETAIL, HEATHERS,
MARSALA What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green
is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as
you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there
are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/nyt-connections-today-answers-hints-9-january -2026


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