NYT Connections Answer

Getting your morning started with the NYT Connections puzzle is a tradition for many, and today’s grid for January 13, 2026, certainly keeps the brain sharp! While there are some straightforward physical actions in the mix, the wordplay in the final category is a classic "aha!" moment that might trip a few people up.

If you’re looking for the NYT Connections hint or the full answer for 2026-01-13, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s break down today’s categories and see how they fit together.

Today's Hints

Before we dive into the full reveal, here are some nudges to help you solve it on your own:

• Yellow Category: Think about the last time you bought someone a birthday gift. What else did you buy besides the gift itself?
• Green Category: These are all verbs that describe moving through a very dense, crowded room.
• Blue Category: Picture a very wealthy, mustachioed man on a board game box. What is he wearing or carrying?
• Purple Category: This is the "wordplay" group. Try removing the first letter of each word and see what remains.

Connections Groups and Answers

If you’re ready for the full solutions, here are the groupings for today's puzzle.

Yellow: PRESENT GO-WITHS

This category focuses on the items we use to make a gift look special. Most of us have a drawer full of these!

• BOW
• CARD
• GIFT WRAP
• RIBBON

Green: JOSTLE

These four words are synonyms for using physical force to push through a crowd or move someone out of the way.

• ELBOW
• PRESS
• SHOULDER
• SHOVE

Blue: ACCESSORIES FOR MR. MONOPOLY

Also known as "Rich Uncle Pennybags," the mascot for the game of Monopoly is known for his distinct, old-school high-society fashion.

• BOWTIE
• CANE
• MONEYBAG
• TOP HAT

Purple: PARTS OF THE FOOT PLUS STARTING LETTER

This was the trickiest group of the day. Each word is formed by taking a part of the human foot and adding a single letter to the front of it.

• OTOE (O + TOE)
• PARCH (P + ARCH)
• RANKLE (R + ANKLE)
• WHEEL (W + HEEL)

Breakdown and Explanations

Today's puzzle had a few clever overlaps. For example, BOW and BOWTIE could easily be confused, and ELBOW and SHOULDER are both body parts that could have easily been part of a different anatomical category.

The Purple Category (PARTS OF THE FOOT PLUS STARTING LETTER) is a masterpiece of hidden-in-plain-sight wordplay.

• OTOE refers to a Native American people, but here it functions as O-TOE.
• RANKLE means to cause persistent annoyance, but it hides R-ANKLE.
• WHEEL and PARCH are common words that completely disguise their "foot" origins until you strip that first letter away.

The Blue Category was a fun bit of nostalgia. If you’ve spent any time bankrupting your friends and family in Monopoly, TOP HAT and CANE likely jumped out at you immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you play NYT Connections?

The goal is to find four groups of four words that share a common thread. Select four words and tap "Submit" to see if you're right. You have four lives before the game is over!

What time does NYT Connections reset?

New puzzles are released every day at midnight in your local time zone.

What do the colors mean in Connections?

The colors represent the difficulty level:

• Yellow: Most straightforward.
• Green: Common terms or synonyms.
• Blue: More specific knowledge or trivia.
• Purple: Wordplay, puns, or abstract connections.

How did you do on the answer for 2026-01-13? Did the "Foot" category trip you up, or did you "heel" just fine? See you for tomorrow's puzzle!