For Thursday, January 29, 2026, NYT Connections game #963 groups its 16 words into makeup, characters and objects from Goldilocks and the Three Bears, words ending in drinking vessels, and homophones of words associated with brutality. If you want a nudge before the full solution, start with the hints below.
Spoiler-safe hints for Connections #963
These clues follow the puzzle’s four groups in order, from easiest to trickiest:
- “Maybe it’s Maybelline.”
- “Too hot, too cold, just right.”
- “Raise a cup.”
- “They all sound like words with a similar meaning.”
The hints are from Parade’s January 29 guide. The answer groups are below.
NYT Connections answers for January 29, 2026
The 16-word bank is GOREY, SILVERSTEIN, GRIZZLY, BEAR, GRIMM, GOLDILOCKS, STAIN, SCARRY, FIBERGLASS, SMUG, BED, LINER, FOUNDATION, STUMBLER, BRONZER, and PORRIDGE. The four groups are:
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Yellow: Makeup
- BRONZER
- FOUNDATION
- LINER
- STAIN
Green: Featured in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”
- BEAR
- BED
- GOLDILOCKS
- PORRIDGE
Blue: Ending with drinking vessels
- FIBERGLASS — glass
- SILVERSTEIN — stein
- SMUG — mug
- STUMBLER — tumbler
Purple: Homophones of words meaning “brutal”
- GOREY — “gory”
- GRIMM — “grim”
- GRIZZLY — “grizzly”
- SCARRY — “scary”
How the trickiest groups work
The blue category hides a drinking vessel at the end of each full word: glass, stein, mug, and tumbler. The purple category relies on sound-alikes: GOREY suggests “gory,” GRIMM suggests “grim,” GRIZZLY suggests “grizzly,” and SCARRY suggests “scary.” Those are words associated with brutality or harshness, rather than four names of the same kind.
Parade’s dated guide and TechRadar’s game #963 guide list the same four sets. These are answer-guide sources; this solution is not presented as a direct statement from The New York Times.
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About the date and puzzle number
This page answers the archived puzzle dated Thursday, January 29, 2026, identified by the guides as game #963. “Today” in the query refers to that specific date, not necessarily the current day’s puzzle. Connections asks players to sort 16 words into four groups of four based on a shared link; wordplay can make a group’s connection less obvious than its surface meaning.
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