## Cracking the *New York Times* Connections Puzzle: January 8, 2025
The *New York Times* “Connections” word game continues to captivate players with its challenging yet rewarding puzzles. Today’s puzzle (January 8, 2025) proved particularly tricky for many. Fortunately, we have the solutions and hints to help you conquer this brain teaser.
### How to Play Connections
The game presents a grid of sixteen words. The goal is to divide these words into four groups of four, each group sharing a common theme. The difficulty of each category is color-coded: yellow (easiest), followed by green, blue, and finally, purple (hardest). Once you’ve selected your four words for each category, submit your answer. Correct groupings will be highlighted with the corresponding color.
### Hints for the January 8th Puzzle
Need a nudge in the right direction? Here are some hints to guide your thinking:
* Hint 1: Think about parts or extensions of a larger whole.
* Hint 2: Consider tools used to play various musical instruments.
* Hint 3: Focus on characteristics unique to elephants.
* Hint 4: Identify common words deliberately misspelled in the names of popular Nu metal bands.
### Behind the Scenes with Connections Editor Wyna Liu
The creative process behind these challenging puzzles is fascinating. In a July 2024 interview with *Slate*, Connections editor Wyna Liu revealed her approach: “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 explained. “The boards are 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.”
### The January 8th “Connections” Solution
Ready for the answers? Here are the four categories and their corresponding words:
* Section: BRANCH, DIVISION, LIMB, WING
* Accessories for Playing an Instrument: BOW, DRUMSTICK, MALLET, PICK
* Distinctive Features of an Elephant: EAR, MEMORY, TRUNK, TUSK
* Words Misspelled in Nu Metal Band Names: BISCUIT, CORN, LINCOLN, STAINED
Did you solve the puzzle? Let us know in the comments!