NYT Connections #963 for Thursday, January 29, 2026, mixes cosmetics, Goldilocks, hidden drinking-vessel words, and sound-alikes for harsh or frightening terms. Use the hints below before revealing the full groups.
NYT Connections #963, for Thursday, January 29, 2026, is built around makeup, the story of Goldilocks, words ending in drinking vessels, and sound-alikes for harsh or frightening words. The trickiest group is Purple: names such as GOREY, GRIMM, GRIZZLY, and SCARRY look like references to authors, fairy tales, or animals, but they are intended to sound like GORY, GRIM, GRISLY, and SCARY.
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Spoiler warning: The sections below move from broad hints to a representative word from each group and finally the complete solution. Stop reading whenever you have enough help to finish the puzzle yourself.
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The 16 words in Connections #963
- GOREY
- SILVERSTEIN
- GRIZZLY
- BEAR
- GRIMM
- GOLDILOCKS
- STAIN
- SCARRY
- FIBERGLASS
- SMUG
- BED
- LINER
- FOUNDATION
- STUMBLER
- BRONZER
- PORRIDGE
Hints for Connections #963
Try to solve each group before moving to the next hint level.
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Broad category hints
- Yellow: These can contribute to a cosmetic look.
- Green: These are things or characters associated with the familiar Goldilocks story.
- Blue: Each word ends with the name of a drinking vessel.
- Purple: These are pronounced like words associated with being brutal, harsh, or frightening.
One-word hints
- Yellow: STAIN
- Green: BED
- Blue: STUMBLER
- Purple: GRIMM
Connections #963 answers for January 29, 2026
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | MAKEUP | BRONZER, FOUNDATION, LINER, STAIN |
| Green | FEATURED IN “GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS” | BEAR, BED, GOLDILOCKS, PORRIDGE |
| Blue | ENDING WITH DRINKING VESSELS | FIBERGLASS, SILVERSTEIN, SMUG, STUMBLER |
| Purple | HOMOPHONES OF WORDS MEANING “BRUTAL” | GOREY, GRIMM, GRIZZLY, SCARRY |
Why the yellow group is MAKEUP
BRONZER, FOUNDATION, LINER, and STAIN are all makeup terms.
BRONZER and FOUNDATION are the clearest entries. LINER commonly appears in compounds such as eyeliner and lip liner. STAIN is the less obvious answer because it is also an ordinary word for a mark or discoloration, but lip stain and cheek stain are cosmetic products.
Why the green group is from “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”
BEAR, BED, GOLDILOCKS, and PORRIDGE are central elements of the classic children’s story.
Goldilocks encounters the three bears, tastes their porridge, and tries their beds. The story connection becomes much easier to see after the makeup words have been removed from the grid.
Why the blue group ends with drinking vessels
The blue category uses the endings of longer words rather than four standalone vessel names:
- FIBERGLASS ends with GLASS.
- SILVERSTEIN ends with STEIN.
- SMUG ends with MUG.
- STUMBLER ends with TUMBLER.
STUMBLER is the mechanical oddity. Its final letters provide TUMBLER after the initial S is disregarded. That makes the category a word-ending construction, not a list of ordinary words meaning drinking vessels.
Why the purple group uses sound-alikes
GOREY, GRIMM, GRIZZLY, and SCARRY are intended to evoke these words through pronunciation:
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- GOREY sounds like GORY.
- GRIMM sounds like GRIM.
- GRIZZLY sounds like GRISLY.
- SCARRY sounds like SCARY.
This is the puzzle’s most deceptive group. GOREY may suggest Edward Gorey, GRIMM may suggest the Brothers Grimm, and SCARRY may suggest children’s author Richard Scarry. GRIZZLY, meanwhile, looks like an animal reference. Those associations are deliberate distractions; the intended connection is the sound-alike relationship.
“Scarry” can be pronounced differently depending on how the surname is said, so it is more precise to describe this as the puzzle’s intended sound-alike wordplay rather than claim that every pronunciation is universally identical.
How to solve this puzzle
The best starting point is the yellow group. BRONZER, FOUNDATION, LINER, and STAIN form a reasonably strong cosmetics set, although STAIN is easy to overlook.
Once those four are removed, the Goldilocks group is comparatively direct: GOLDILOCKS, BEAR, BED, and PORRIDGE all belong to the same familiar story.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The remaining eight words reveal two different wordplay mechanisms. Look at the ends of FIBERGLASS, SILVERSTEIN, SMUG, and STUMBLER to find GLASS, STEIN, MUG, and TUMBLER. The final four then resolve as sound-alikes: GOREY/GORY, GRIMM/GRIM, GRIZZLY/GRISLY, and SCARRY/SCARY.
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A useful general Connections habit is to question a tempting theme when it produces only three words. In this grid, a literary or scary-fiction connection may appear to link GOREY, GRIMM, and SCARRY, but GRIZZLY does not fit cleanly. That mismatch is a signal to examine pronunciation instead of subject matter.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Want more puzzles away from the screen?
For readers who enjoy NYT-style category and word games, a screen-free book of NYT-style puzzles is an offline option. Puzzle Mania!: Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Minis and More! is a hardcover collection from The New York Times Games and Joel Fagliano that adapts these kinds of games for paper play. It was published on October 21, 2025, and carries ISBN 9798893310481. It should not be assumed to contain Connections puzzle #963 specifically.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Connections answers for January 29, 2026?
The four categories are MAKEUP; FEATURED IN “GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS”; ENDING WITH DRINKING VESSELS; and HOMOPHONES OF WORDS MEANING “BRUTAL.”
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteWhy is STUMBLER in the blue group?
STUMBLER ends with TUMBLER when its initial S is disregarded. The blue group is based on word endings, not four standalone vessel words.
How does the purple group work?
The intended relationships are GOREY/GORY, GRIMM/GRIM, GRIZZLY/GRISLY, and SCARRY/SCARY. The puzzle uses names and spellings that evoke the sound-alike words.
The Bottom Line
The solution to NYT Connections #963 on January 29, 2026, is MAKEUP, FEATURED IN “GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS”, ENDING WITH DRINKING VESSELS, and HOMOPHONES OF WORDS MEANING “BRUTAL”. Solve the cosmetics group first, then use the story, word-ending, and sound-alike patterns to finish the grid.
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