- Today’s Difficulty: Rated 3.5/5 for its tricky “Vegetables” wordplay and overlapping comedy/measurement terms.
- Red Herring Alert: “BAR” and “NUMBER” often trick players into a “Musical Notation” or “Units” trap before identifying the Benchmark and Comedy categories.
- Purple Group Secret: The January 2 puzzle features words that are vegetables with their first letter removed (Kale, Leek, Chive, Squash).
As the second day of 2026 unfolds, Wyna Liu has delivered a Connections grid that demands a sharp eye and a New Year’s resolution for patience. Today’s puzzle, #936, relies heavily on your ability to look past the literal definitions of words and find the hidden “head” of the vegetable garden. If you’ve already mastered the NYT Connections Sports Edition for today, you’ll find the main grid offers a slightly more linguistic challenge.
Editor’s Tip: Watch out for “LOG” and “RECORD.” While they easily fit into a data-entry category, “RECORD” can also function as a verb, which might distract you from the simpler “jotting down” theme.
Hints for Today’s Connections
Before jumping straight to the answers, use these nudges to see if you can solve the remaining clusters yourself. The difficulty today lies in how many words could fit into a “Standard” or “Data” category.
- Yellow Group: This is all about the act of documenting something quickly.
- Green Group: Think about a stand-up comedian’s repertoire or a specific part of a performance.
- Blue Group: These words are synonyms for a benchmark or a point of reference.
- Purple Group: The most difficult category. Say the words out loud and try adding a letter to the front of each.
The Red Herring Analysis
Players on Reddit have noted that “NUMBER” and “BAR” frequently lead to a false connection regarding music or measurement. However, “NUMBER” belongs to the comedy set (as in a musical number or a bit), while “BAR” serves as a synonym for a standard or hurdle to clear.
Today’s Connections Answers (January 2, 2026)
If the grid has you stumped, here are the finalized groups for today. If you are looking for past challenges to practice your skills, you can always revisit the NYT Connections hints and answers from our archives.
| Category | Words |
|---|---|
| Yellow: QUICK NOTE | JOT, LOG, NOTE, RECORD |
| Green: COMEDY SET PIECES | BIT, GAG, NUMBER, ROUTINE |
| Blue: BENCHMARK | BAR, EXAMPLE, METRIC, STANDARD |
| Purple: VEGETABLES MINUS FIRST LETTER | ALE, EEK, HIVE, QUASH |
The Purple group today is a classic example of the NYT Games team’s love for “hidden in plain sight” wordplay. By removing the ‘K’ from Kale, the ‘L’ from Leek, the ‘C’ from Chive, and the ‘S’ from Squash, they created a group of words that seem entirely unrelated at first glance.
As you wrap up today’s puzzle, remember that the difficulty of these games often ebbs and flows with the start of the month. If you found today particularly grueling, check back for tomorrow’s guide, where we’ll break down the next set of linguistic hurdles. Happy puzzling!
