Leave it to The New York Times to have an addicting yet educational word game to crack! Since “Connections” is one of the publication’s most popular games, the answer for today, January 9, 2025, was a tough one to solve.
Luckily, we’ve got the hints and the final answer to today’s puzzle.
How to Play ‘Connections’
“Connections” begins with a set of 16 words in a grid, and players have to separate the words into four related groups. The difficulty of each category is marked in the colors yellow, green, blue and purple. Yellow is the easier one, while purple is considered the most difficult.
After a player selects each group’s four words, they click “submit,” which should become the category’s color if it’s correct.
‘Connections’ January 9 Hints
Here are our hints for Thursday’s “Connections” answer:
- Common places where sellers set up to display and sell their goods at a market or fair
- Basic instructions commonly used when training dogs to follow commands or behave in specific ways
- Key divisions found in many businesses or organizations, each overseeing different operational aspects
- The final words in the patriotic song, describing the vast and beautiful land from coast to coast
“Connections” editor Wyna Liu is familiar with the frustration that players have when they can’t solve a game. While speaking with Slate in July 2024, Liu described the process behind developing each game.
“The process is I have a notebook where I keep down category ideas. And when I sit down to make boards, I’ll take one of those ideas, I’ll take those words, and then I’ll start spinning off of them,” Liu said. “And then, the boards will be built from that, and sometimes it goes in surprising directions. I feel like that’s sort of one of the most joyful things about making games. I don’t know what the categories are gonna be. I start with like a seed. And then I’m just like, ‘Oh, what does this word do?,’ and then maybe like a dozen categories of possibilities and then you kind of see if any of those words are playing off each other, and the brain builds from that.”
What Is the ‘Connections’ January 9 Answer?
The answer to today’s “Connections” game is:
- Vendor’s Spot at a Market: BOOTH, STALL, STAND, TABLE
- Dog Commands: COME, HEEL, SIT, STAY
- Corporate Departments: FINANCE, IT, LEGAL, SALES
- Last Words in “America the Beautiful”: FROM, SEA, TO, SHINING
