Connections today (Feb. 5, 2026): hints, categories, and solution checks
Players tackling today’s Connections grid are running into a familiar deadline-day pattern: a couple of straightforward sets, one “you either see it or you don’t” misdirection, and a final group that looks easier once you already know the trick. Puzzle #970 (Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, ET) is built around broad themes with a few tiles that can tempt you into the wrong bucket if you move too fast.
What’s in the latest puzzle
Today’s board is designed to make you bounce between “obvious” and “wait, what?” It leans on common cultural references, plain-English action words, a color-based grouping that’s more specific than it first appears, and a surname connection that’s easy to miss if you’re scanning for meanings instead of labels.
If you’re comparing logic with other players, the key is that several words feel like they could fit multiple ideas—until you commit to the puzzle’s exact phrasing of each category.
Hints to nudge you (no direct answers)
Hint 1: One group is about familiar, patriotic Americana—think icons you’d see on posters, in textbooks, or at major events.
Hint 2: One group is made of verbs that all mean “hit” or “collide,” but with slightly different force and intent.
Hint 3: One group is literally “blue,” but not in the emotional sense—more like things you can point to that are commonly blue.
Hint 4: The toughest group is a name pattern, not a meaning pattern. If you’re hunting synonyms, you’ll miss it.
Categories (still keeping it semi-spoiler)
If you want the category labels without seeing the full word groupings yet, here’s the shape of the puzzle:
One category is about cultural symbols tied to the United States.
One category is about colliding with something.
One category is about things that are blue.
One category is about famous people who share the same last name.
At this stage, if you’re one tile away on any set, try locking in the most “unarguable” four first and use elimination to reduce the remaining ambiguity.
Full solution checks (categories + words)
If you’re ready to confirm everything, here are the completed groups for today’s puzzle:
| Category | Words |
|---|---|
| Cultural symbols of the U.S. | AMERICAN FLAG, APPLE PIE, BALD EAGLE, BASEBALL |
| Collide with | BUMP, BUTT, KNOCK, RAM |
| Blue things | JEANS, LAPIS LAZULI, OCEAN, SKY |
| Lees of Hollywood | ANG, BRUCE, CHRISTOPHER, SPIKE |
Why the puzzle feels tricky today
Two spots tend to cause the most second-guessing.
First, the collision set can feel like it overlaps with “hit,” “strike,” “reject,” or even “mess up,” depending on how you read KNOCK and BUMP. The category is narrower: it’s about contacting something with force, not outcomes or metaphors.
Second, the “blue” set can stall people because LAPIS LAZULI doesn’t look like a typical everyday object in the same way JEANS, OCEAN, and SKY do. But it’s a direct color connection, and the puzzle is happy to mix the ordinary with the niche as long as the shared trait is clean.
Finally, the last-name group is the classic trap: the words don’t want to be synonyms at all. If you stop trying to interpret them and instead ask “What label could link these as names?” the set snaps into place.
Sources consulted: The New York Times; TechRadar; Parade; Times of India
