NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Thursday, January 16 (game #585)
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.
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 clues.
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 #585) – today’s words
(Image credit: New York Times)
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
MARKET
SWITCH
PLANT
MALL
TRADE
GYM
OUTLET
ASSET
RUG
BUSINESS
MOLE
SCONCE
PACK
AGENT
BASEBOARD
COMMERCE
NYT Connections today (game #585) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: Merchandise
GREEN: Room fixtures
BLUE: Undercover
PURPLE: Add a rodent
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 #585) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: BUYING AND SELLING
GREEN: INSTALLED ON A WALL
BLUE: SPY
PURPLE: RAT
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #585) – the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today’s Connections, game #585, are…
YELLOW: BUYING AND SELLING BUSINESS, COMMERCE, MARKET, TRADE
GREEN: INSTALLED ON A WALL BASEBOARD, OUTLET, SCONCE, SWITCH
BLUE: SPY AGENT, ASSET, MOLE, PLANT
PURPLE: RAT GYM, MALL, PACK, RUG
My rating: Hard
My score: 3 mistakes
I really struggled today, even though I got the yellow and blue groups fairly quickly.
My sticking point was INSTALLED ON A WALL, as I’d never heard of the word SCONCE before – which probably says a lot about my interest in interior design and home makeover shows.
Having said that, I really should have seen the words that had RAT in common.
Sheer guesswork got me over the line.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 15 January, game #584)
YELLOW: MEANS MECHANISM, MEDIUM, TOOL, VEHICLE
GREEN: LACKING LIGHT, LOW, SHORT, SHY
BLUE: MARTINI SPECIFICATIONS DIRTY, DRY, PERFECT, WET
PURPLE: FICTIONAL MISTERS BIG, PEANUT, ROBOT, TOAD
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.