NYT Connections Today: Hints and Answers for January 10, 2026

Happy Saturday, puzzle lovers! If you’ve just sat down with your morning coffee and opened up the NYT Connections app, you might be in for a bit of a treat—or a bit of a headache. Today’s grid features a heavy dose of technology and science, with a side of slang that might trip you up if you aren't careful.

Whether you are looking for a gentle nudge or the full answer for 2026-01-10, I’ve got you covered. Let’s dive into today's groupings.

Hints for Today's Connections

Before we reveal the categories, here are some helpful hints to get your brain moving in the right direction:

• Yellow Category Hint: These are all long, skinny, and empty in the middle. You likely have at least three of these in your kitchen or garden right now.
• Green Category Hint: If you are a developer—or just someone who uses a computer—you’ll recognize these as different ways to access a service.
• Blue Category Hint: "Gotta go!" These words are all synonyms for making a quick exit or leaving a place suddenly.
• Purple Category Hint: This group requires a bit of high school science knowledge. Each of these is a standard way to quantify something in the physical world.

Detailed Solution and Category Breakdowns

If the hints weren't quite enough, here is the breakdown of the categories and their respective words.

Yellow: HOLLOW CYLINDERS

These items are defined by their shape. They are all cylindrical and used to transport fluids, gases, or even just for sipping a milkshake.

• HOSE
• PIPE
• STRAW
• TUBE

Green: SOFTWARE PLATFORMS

In the tech world, these terms describe the environment in which a program or application runs. Whether you're on your phone or a workstation, you're using one of these.

• APP
• DESKTOP
• MOBILE
• WEB

Blue: TAKE OFF

Don't get confused by "DIP" or "BOOK"—in this context, they aren't about salsa or reading. These are all informal verbs used when you're ready to leave.

• BOOK: Slang for moving very fast or leaving quickly (e.g., "We really had to book it to catch the train").
• DIP: Modern slang for leaving a social gathering.
• JET: To leave or depart rapidly.
• SPLIT: To depart, often used in the phrase "Let's split."

Purple: UNITS OF MEASURE

This is the "trickiest" category today because many of these words have multiple meanings. However, they are all scientific units used in various fields like physics and chemistry.

• BAR: A unit of pressure (often used in meteorology).
• GRAM: A unit of mass in the metric system.
• MOLE: A fundamental unit in chemistry used to measure the amount of a substance.
• VOLT: The unit of electric potential or electromotive force.

Final Thoughts on Today's Puzzle

Today's puzzle was a classic Wyna Liu construction. The NYT Connections hint here was to avoid the "unit" trap early on. "BAR" could have easily been associated with "PIPE" or "TUBE" in a hardware sense, and "BOOK" often confuses players who are looking for literary categories. Once you realized that "DIP" and "SPLIT" were slang for leaving, the rest of the board started to fall into place.

How did you do? Did the chemistry "MOLE" throw you for a loop?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do you play NYT Connections?

The goal is to find groups of four items that share something in common. Select four items and tap 'Submit' to see if your guess is correct. You have four lives, and the game ends if you lose all of them.

What do the colors mean in Connections?

The colors represent the difficulty level:

• Yellow: The most straightforward, literal category.
• Green: Common terms or slightly more complex associations.
• Blue: Often involves wordplay, idioms, or specific themes.
• Purple: The most abstract or difficult category, frequently involving "words that follow..." or hidden patterns.

When does NYT Connections reset?

A new puzzle is released every day at midnight in your local time zone.

Can there be more than one correct answer?

While some words might seem like they fit in multiple categories, there is only one unique solution that organizes all 16 words into four distinct groups of four.