**Connections: The New York Times Word Game Taking the Internet by Storm**

*Connections* represents one of the most trending word games from *The New York Times*, captivating enthusiasts with its distinct challenge of uncovering “common links between words.” Much like *Wordle*, *Connections* resets daily at midnight, with each successive puzzle growing in difficulty. If you find yourself at a standstill, we provide hints and tips to assist you—or you can jump ahead to the conclusion of this article for today’s answer.

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### What Is *Connections*?

The *New York Times* has rolled out yet another successful word game to its Games section, which has already become a social media craze. Developed in collaboration with associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu, *Connections* tasks players with categorizing four words that share a common theme. The game is available on both web browsers and mobile platforms.

Each puzzle features 16 words that need to be categorized into four groups. These groups can include anything from book titles to nations, software, and beyond. While numerous words may appear to belong together, there is only one correct answer for each grouping.

When players successfully pinpoint a set of four words, those words are cleared from the board. However, incorrect guesses are counted as errors, and players are permitted a maximum of four errors before the game concludes. To facilitate their search, players can shuffle the board to uncover connections more efficiently. Each group is color-coded, with yellow being the simplest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Similar to *Wordle*, you can share your performance with friends on social media.

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### Hints for Today’s *Connections* Categories

Need a hint to get you started? Here are some clues for today’s categories without revealing the answers:

– **Yellow:** A trade of goods and services
– **Green:** Items affixed to a vertical surface
– **Blue:** Secret intelligence
– **Purple:** Contains a rat

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### Today’s *Connections* Categories

If you’re still finding it tough, here’s a bit more assistance. Today’s categories include:

– **Yellow:** Trading
– **Green:** Mounted on a Wall
– **Blue:** Intelligence Agent
– **Purple:** ___Rat

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### The Solution to Today’s *Connections* Puzzle

Eager for the solutions? Here are today’s answers for the *Connections* puzzle (#585):

– **Trading:** BUSINESS, COMMERCE, MARKET, TRADE
– **Mounted on a Wall:** BASEBOARD, OUTLET, SCONCE, SWITCH
– **Intelligence Agent:** AGENT, ASSET, MOLE, PLANT
– **___Rat:** GYM, MALL, PACK, RUG

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Don’t be disheartened if you couldn’t figure it out this time—there’s always a new challenge tomorrow! A fresh *Connections* puzzle will be ready to test your skills, and we’ll return with additional hints and solutions to assist you.

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### Seeking More Puzzles?

If word games excite you, visit *Mashable’s* [games hub](https://games.mashable.com/) for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crosswords, and more. You can also discover hints and solutions for other *New York Times* games, such as *Wordle* and *Strands*.

Missed yesterday’s *Connections*? [Check out the solution here.](https://mashable.com/article/nyt-connections-sports-edition-hint-answer-today-january-16)

Enjoy puzzling!