It is the middle of the working week so, if you need help with today’s Connections, Newsweek is here to assist.

Much like Wordle, which was created by Josh Wardle, Connections became popular very quickly and is now the second most-played word game published by The New York Times.

Launched in 2023, the word-based game challenges players to find common threads between a series of words. Players must group them and name the categories. Connections can be quite the brainteaser, but sometimes, a little hint is all you need to get over that tricky hump.

How To Play ‘Connections’

Each puzzle consists of 16 words, with each group of words separated into four categories, and players need to figure out the common thread between each category: yellow, green, blue and purple. To use a previous example, a category could be describing measuring instruments, and the answers would be compass, ruler, scale, and watch.

Words can often belong in two categories, to add a layer of difficulty. However, each group must consist of four individual words, with no repeated answers. Groups are more difficult according to their color, with yellow being the easiest, then green, blue, and finally purple being the hardest category to crack.

If all four words are correctly placed into each set, those words will be removed from the board. But incorrect guesses count toward the mistake tally, and the game ends once you reach four mistakes.

Players can shuffle and rearrange the board of words to help them with guessing the connections.

Connections editor Wyna Liu has been editing puzzles at the New York Times since 2020. She said that, if you notice that there are five or more words that belong to one category, try pivoting to a different category before making your first guess.

“Doing so might take one of those extra cards out of contention, or at least remove a few cards from the board, making other categories easier to see,” Liu said.

The answers for today’s Connections will be revealed at the end of this article, so please scroll down with caution if you want to work them out for yourself.

‘Connections’ #584 Clues for Wednesday, January 15

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

Yellow: The answers in this category are all different methods.

Green: Words that help describe when you don’t have enough of something.

Blue: Different ways you can make a certain cocktail.

Purple: These words relate to a certain male title.

‘Connections’ #584 Answers for Wednesday, January 15

Yellow Category: MEANS

Yellow Words: Mechanism, Medium, Tool, Vehicle

Green Category: LACKING

Green Words: Light, Low, Short, Shy

Blue Category: MARTINI SPECIFICATIONS

Blue Words: Dirty, Dry, Perfect, Wet

Purple Category: FICTIONAL MISTERS

Purple Words: Big, Peanut, Robot, Toad

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. will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.