NYT Connections: Today’s Connections answers for Jan. 30, 2026 (Puzzle #964)
The NYT Connections buzz on Friday is all about Connections puzzle #964, a grid that looked deceptively everyday—until it forced solvers to decide whether a word belonged to geography, grooming, sticky stuff, or a phrase you only complete after you spot the trick. The puzzle reset at midnight local time, but in practice it rolled through the morning as players compared notes, chased streaks, and debated which group was “supposed” to be easiest.
Today’s set leaned on plain-language nouns (AREA, PATCH, POCKET) and familiar objects (TAPE, STICKER), then saved its sharpest turn for a phrase-completion group that can swallow multiple words before you realize what you’re building.
What made puzzle #964 tricky
The grid’s difficulty came from overlap. Several words could plausibly live in more than one category if you’re thinking broadly:
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“PATCH” could be geography, clothing repair, or even an adhesive item.
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“POCKET” might feel like an object feature (a pocket on jeans) before it clicks as a “region” synonym.
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“TAPE” and “BAND-AID” are obvious sticky items, but they also tempt players into “first aid” as a false theme.
The puzzle rewarded a methodical approach: lock a sure group early, then use what’s left to reveal the higher-concept set.
NYT Connection puzzle #964 answers
Here are the official groupings and solutions for Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 (ET):
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | REGION | AREA, CLUSTER, PATCH, POCKET |
| Green | GROOMING ITEMS | COMB, COMPACT, NAIL FILE, TWEEZERS |
| Blue | THINGS WITH ADHESIVE SURFACES | BAND-AID, LINT ROLLER, STICKER, TAPE |
| Purple | ___ HAND | HELPING, MINUTE, POKER, UPPER |
If you got stuck on the last set: the mechanic is to add the word “HAND” to each answer to form common phrases (helping hand, minute hand, poker hand, upper hand).
How many players solved each set first
A lot of solvers reported an “easy start, tricky finish” pattern:
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Green (GROOMING ITEMS) often fell first because the objects are concrete and belong together cleanly.
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Blue (ADHESIVE SURFACES) was next for many, especially once LINT ROLLER anchored the idea of “sticky-side” tools.
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Yellow (REGION) could feel odd because “CLUSTER” doesn’t scream geography until you treat “region” as “section of space.”
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Purple (___ HAND) is the classic Connections closer: it’s not hard once seen, but it’s easy to miss while you’re still thinking in categories rather than wordplay.
A quick solving strategy that matched today’s grid
If you’re trying to improve at Connections-style puzzles, today offered a useful reminder: when words look too ordinary, the game is often hiding structure in plain sight.
A practical workflow that fit this board:
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Grab the “toolkit” set early (here, grooming items) to reduce the board.
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Look for a physical property (sticky surfaces) rather than a topic label (like “first aid”).
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Treat remaining words as synonyms, not objects (REGION).
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Assume one group is wordplay (the blank “___ HAND” construction) when everything else seems literal.
That’s exactly the kind of pattern the game keeps training: shift your lens from “what are these things?” to “how can these words behave?”
Sources consulted: The New York Times Games; TechRadar; Parade; Forbes; Analytics Insight.
