Keeping a Connections win streak going can be challenging at the best of times, so if you are in need of some tips and hints, then Newsweek has your back.

The popular brainteaser was launched by The New York Times in June 2023 and has gone on to become the newspaper’s second-most played game behind Wordle, another word-based puzzle.

Connections challenges players to uncover threads connecting a series of words. Instructions on how to play the game are below. Clues and the answers for today’s puzzle are toward the end of the article, so scroll with caution if you want to work them out yourself.

How to Play Connections

Connections tasks players with grouping 16 words into four categories based on association. For example, yesterday’s game linked the words “Single,” “Buck,” “Clam,” and “Smacker” under the category “One Dollar.”

Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which also signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue and purple. The puzzles are rarely straightforward, using homophones and wordplay, among other techniques, to keep players challenged.

The familiarity of the words used and how often they pop up in life are also difficulty factors, although less-common words aren’t only used in the harder categories. “Item overlap,” where one word can be linked to multiple categories, is another way Connections tests players.

If stuck, players can hit the shuffle button, which will mix up where the words appear on the screen.

Wyna Liu, a crossword editor at the Times who developed Connections, previously told Newsweek about her recommended tips for playing the game.

“My best piece of advice is to wait as long as you can before guessing,” she said. “You may see the board and have completely identified the category, seeing five words that could belong in that category. Don’t try to guess the four words in that category because even though you know what the fifth member is, you won’t know which of the four it might not be,” which would ultimately waste a turn.

“Don’t do what I do, which is ‘rage solve,'” she added.

Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today’s Connections categories.

“Connections” #573 Clues for Saturday, January 4

Yellow: These words describe ways you might make something smaller.

Green: For these answers, think of keeping things fastened together.

Blue: These words describe the way someone might go through their checklist.

Purple: These answers are associated with a famous painting.

“Connections” #573 Answers for Saturday, January 4

Yellow Category: CRUSH INTO A COMPACT SHAPE

Yellow Words: Ball, Crumple, Scrunch, Wad

Green Category: FASTENERS

Green Words: Buckle, Clip, Hook, Snap

Blue Category: MARK AS COMPLETED

Blue Words: Check, Cross, Strike, Tick

Purple Category: DEPICTED IN DALÍ’S “THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY”

Purple Words: Ant, Branch, Clock, Melting

Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations. If not, there will be another opportunity to crack the puzzle tomorrow.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.