Hats, bedtime habits, famous bands with one vowel, and “Grand” locations collide in today’s NYT Connections. Watch out for words that fit multiple clues.
January 16’s NYT Connections mixes derbies and fedoras with baths, stories, and musical acts, plus a purple twist tied to ‘Grand’ places.
From kids’ nightly routines to iconic bands and dramatic landmarks, today’s NYT Connections grid hides clean logic beneath clever misdirection.
NYT Connections grid looking confusing? Today's puzzle presents a well-balanced grid that ranges from different types of hats, elements from a kid’s bedtime routine, and words that have Grand as a prefix. The grid for January 16 not only sparks brainstorming but also presents logical challenges, and the purple group will present the most dramatic twist.
Themes are mingling so closely that they actually confuse, and a few words are also roaming around the categories before settling into the right groups. This scenario makes today's NYT Connections not only clever but also very satisfying for puzzle lovers, from novices to experts.
NYT Connections tasks players with sorting 16 words into four hidden groups. Each group contains four terms linked by meaning or theme. Colors reveal difficulty: yellow for simple categories, green for moderate themes, blue for challenging cultural references, and purple for the most complex wordplay or niche topics. Mistakes are limited, which keeps the challenge tight and engaging. This format explains why NYT Connections remains one of the most popular daily word games today.
NYT Connections January 16 grid presents the following words that players need to arrange and solve the puzzle:
PORKPIE, BATH, BAHAMA, CANYON, BRUSHING, BANANARAMA, KANSAS, SANTANA, DERBY, FEDORA, PANAMA, PIANO, SLAM, PAJAMAS, STORY, ALABAMA
The grid looks confusing? Here’s the clues for each category to find the words:
Yellow Group: Think of terms that are kind of hats.
Green Group: Think of terms that generally kids do before they go to sleep
Blue Group: Think of bands you must have listened to, but with a twist.
Purple Group: Think of the locations that have Grand as prefix.
Still confused about the words? Don’t worry maybe the one word hints will help you group the exact words:
Yellow Group: DERBY
Green Group: BRUSHING
Blue Group: KANSAS
Purple Group: SLAM
The above given clues must have resolved all the confusion, and you must have made today’s groups. However, if you haven’t yet figured out the exact words for each group, below are the solutions to NYT Connections January 16, 2026:
Yellow Group (KINDS OF HATS): DERBY, FEDORA, PANAMA, PORKPIE
Green Group (COMPONENTS OF A KID’S BEDTIME ROUTINE): BATH, BRUSHING, PAJAMAS, STORY
Blue Group (MUSICAL ACTS WITH "A" AS THE ONLY VOWEL): ALABAMA, BANANARAMA, KANSAS, SANTANA
Purple Group (GRAND ___): BAHAMA, CANYON, PIANO, SLAM
Check Out the Image Below to Learn How to Make the Sets of Today's Puzzle:
The January 16 edition of NYT Connections strikes a clean balance between logic and wordplay. While on one side today’s grid presents synonyms, on the other it has words with changed first letter. While the yellow and green group words won’t be too challenging to find, the twist will begin when players realize some words fit more than one category.
The layout is moderately challenging, but the combination of themes still maintains the fun factor. It’s an attractive and neat grid that merges simplicity with allure, giving a fantastic start to the week’s batch of NYT Connections suggestions and contests.