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The date and puzzle number in this query do not match. Connections #573 was published on Saturday, January 4, 2025. The January 2, 2025 puzzle was #571. If you meant #573, the spoiler-safe clues and complete groups are below. (January 2, 2026 was a separate puzzle, #936.)
Which Connections puzzle is this?
| Date | Puzzle | What it refers to |
|---|---|---|
| January 2, 2025 | #571 | The earlier puzzle with groups about perceiving, cadence, one in a group of 12, and DOG ____. |
| January 4, 2025 | #573 | The puzzle whose 16 words and answers appear in this guide. |
| January 2, 2026 | #936 | A later puzzle, unrelated to #573. |
This guide focuses on #573 and keeps its solutions below a spoiler warning.
Hints for Connections #573
Try these category clues before looking at the answers:
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- Yellow: Ready for the trash
- Green: Belt up
- Blue: All done
- Purple: Classic Salvador
The 16 words
CHECK, CLOCK, CRUMPLE, CROSS, HOOK, TICK, BUCKLE, ANT, BALL, STRIKE, MELTING, WAD, SNAP, SCRUNCH, BRANCH, CLIP.
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Spoilers: answers for #573
Stop here if you still want to solve the grid yourself.
Yellow — Crush into a compact shape
- BALL
- CRUMPLE
- SCRUNCH
- WAD
Green — Fasteners
- BUCKLE
- CLIP
- HOOK
- SNAP
Blue — Mark as completed
- CHECK
- CROSS
- STRIKE
- TICK
Purple — Depicted in Dalí’s “The Persistence of Memory”
- ANT
- BRANCH
- CLOCK
- MELTING
Why this grid is easy to misread
The words support several tempting associations. BALL, CLOCK and STRIKE can each point toward more than one possible group, so a plausible trio is not enough: Connections requires a complete set of four. The intended solution emerges when the remaining words also fit the same relationship, separating the compacting, fastener, completion-mark and Dalí-image groups.
How Connections works
You sort 16 shuffled words into four groups of four. A wrong submission costs one of your lives, and four mistakes end the game. The color labels are a rough solving aid rather than a guarantee: yellow is generally presented as the easiest category and purple as the hardest, with purple often relying on wordplay.
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If you meant January 2, 2025 (#571)
Do not use the #573 solutions for that date. The January 2 puzzle was #571, with these groups:
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- Perceive: CATCH, CLOCK, NOTICE, REGISTER
- Cadence: BEAT, METER, RHYTHM, TIME
- One in a group of 12: DONUT, INCH, JUROR, MONTH
- DOG ____: DAYS, PADDLE, TAG, TIRED
Both puzzles are past games in the digital NYT Games experience; access to older puzzles may depend on your current NYT Games or All Access subscription.
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