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NYT Connections puzzle #212 is the game for Tuesday, January 9, 2024. Try the hints below before scrolling to the spoiler-marked groups and answers.
Hints for Connections #212
These clues move from broad to more specific. The four groups are ordered from easiest to trickiest, but the clues do not give away the words.
- So neat and tidy.
- Fundamental flavors.
- Ready those tissues.
- On the case.
For another nudge: picture a detective story, a sneeze guard, a stocked pantry, a broom, and a recipe. The categories involve cleaning, cooking, sneezing, and fictional investigators.
Answers for January 9, 2024
Spoilers below: the following are the four categories and all 16 answers.
#1 Best Overall
Yellow: Cleaning supplies
BROOM, MOP, RAG, SPONGE
Green: Elements of cooking, per Samin Nosrat
SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT
Blue: Things that make you sneeze
DUST, PEPPER, POLLEN, SMOKE
Purple: Titular fictional detectives
MAGNUM, MONK, SHAFT, TRACY
How the trickiest overlaps work
Start with the cleaning supplies: broom, mop, rag, and sponge. Dust, pollen, smoke, and pepper make up the sneeze-trigger group. Pepper is the main trap: it can suggest cooking, but it belongs with the words that make you sneeze.
The cooking group is the four-part formulation associated with Samin Nosrat’s 2017 cookbook, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. The final four are detectives whose names appear in their titles: Magnum P.I., Monk, John Shaft, and Dick Tracy. The cookbook is useful context for the category, but you do not need it to solve the puzzle.
Rank #2
What Connections asks you to do
Connections presents 16 words and asks players to sort them into four groups of four that share a theme. The groups are color-coded: yellow is the easiest and purple the trickiest. There is one solution, and some words can seem to fit more than one category—that ambiguity is part of the challenge, as the NYT Help Center explains.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where to play and find older puzzles
The NYT Help Center says the daily puzzle releases at midnight in the player’s timezone and is available through the Games app, NYTimes.com, The Athletic site, and the News app. Its current guidance says the Connections archive reaches back to June 12, 2023, and is available to All Access and Games subscribers. Access details can change; consult the official Connections help page for the latest terms.
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