Looking for today's Connections answers? The Connections answers on January 28 for puzzle #231 end the week easier than they began, with the Connections Companion rating this puzzle's difficulty at 2.2 out of 5.
Every day, we update this article with Connections hints and tips to help you find all 4 of today's answers. And if the hints aren't enough, you'll find all 4 answers below, with the category titles and the correlating words. Plus, we're including a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #230, in case you're reading this in a different time zone.
Spoilers lie ahead for Connections #231. Only read on if you want to know today's Connections answers.
Alternatively, visit our how to play NYT Connections guide for tips on how to solve the puzzle without our help.
Today's Connections answer — hints to help you solve it
Unlike our guide to today's Wordle answer, where we recommend the best Wordle start words as your strategy, solving Connections relies on identifying connecting categories among 16 words. Each category's difficulty level is represented by a color; yellow is the easiest grouping, and purple is the most challenging. Once you've made 4 mistakes in your guesses, the answers will be revealed, so hints can be helpful.
If you need hints to solve the groupings, then here are the themes of each, based on the order of difficulty:
- 🟨 Yellow: Hillary and Tenzing reached this in 1953
- 🟩 Green: Networking
- 🟦 Blue: Good things come in small packages
- 🟪 Purple: Triple word score
These hints should get you at least some of the way towards finding today's Connections answers. If not, then you can read on for bigger clues; or, if you just want to know the answer, then scroll down further.
Alright then, here's a larger hint: Today's Connections answers don't present too many traps and you'll likely find yourself making small work of it as you make a swift ascent through the categories.
Today's Connections answers
So, what are today's Connections answers for game #231?
Drumroll, please...
- 🟨 Highest point: Crest, peak, summit, vertex
- 🟩 "Can I get your _____?" (Phone info request): Cell, contact, digits, number
- 🟦 Modifiers meaning small: Baby, mini, pocket, toy
- 🟪 Inside a Scrabble box: Bag, board, racks, tiles
The most fiendish Connections editions feature words that can feasibly fit into two or more categories, but the NYT games masters must have been feeling generous this weekend as today's edition is missing any obvious pitfalls.
Vertex, for example, is not a word that is likely to evoke multiple meanings so I was quick to combine it with Crest, Peak, and Summit to complete the yellow category.
I also made small work of the blue theme, spotting Toy, Mini, and Baby before spending a little longer to find its fourth little friend, Pocket.
But just as I started dreaming of reaching today's summit without the loss of a single life, I was swiftly brought back down to the ground as I submitted Tiles, Board, Bag, and Digits, erroneously tying them together as part of a vague board game theme.
Thankfully I was only one away, and soon realised that's because I needed to be more specific. The game in question was Scrabble, which is, of course, all about words, not numbers (sound familiar?). So out went Digits and in came Racks to complete the contents of my box.
Number, Contact, Cell, and Digits remained, completing the category relating to swapping phone numbers. As I hit submit to finish with only a single life lost, it's fair to say that when it comes to today's game, I had its number.
Yesterday's Connections answers
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Connections answers for game #230, which had a difficulty rating of 2.6 out of 5, according to the Connections Companion.
Smart, Courage, Heart... some of today's Connections answers could pass for the character traits one might list to impress on a dating app. But then Ache, Burn, and Sting could also describe the emotions some encounter after using one. Unable to find a fourth word for my first theory, it appeared to fit nicely with my second. Yellow category, Hurt, duly complete!
Next up, Guard (dog) and Watch (dog) had me considering our trusty canine companions, but after deciding that no pet owner would ever describe themselves as having a 'Home' dog, I wisely moved on. Mind and Tend would instead complete the green category.
- 🟨 Hurt: Ache, burn, smart, sting
- 🟩 Look after: Guard, mind, tend, watch
- 🟦 Sought after in "The Wizard of Oz": Brain, courage, heart, home
- 🟪 Silent "W": Answer, two, wrist, wrong
A tactical hit of the shuffle button initiated a cyclone that threw Brain and Courage next to each other, and I was instantly thrown into Oz alongside a Scarecrow and a cowardly Lion. Heart and (there's no place like) Home followed for the blue category.
Answer, two, wrist and wrong remained, and the combination of wrong and answer brought back memories of failed school spelling bees. Which appeared particularly apt, given the theme of the purple category: silent Ws. Cue a wry smile as I hit submit following a successful wrestle with today’s Connections answers!
