Looking for clues for today's Connections answers? The Connections answers on January 20 for puzzle #589 retain the same difficulty as yesterday's puzzle, with the Connections Companion rating this puzzle's difficulty at 3 out of 5.
Every day, we update this article with Connections hints and tips to help you find all 4 of today's answers so you can keep your Connections streak going. And if the clues aren't enough, you'll find all four answers below, with the category titles and the correlating words.
Plus, we're including a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #588, in case you're reading this in a different time zone.
Spoilers lie ahead for Connections #589. Only read on if you want to know today's Connections answers.
Alternatively, visit our how to play NYT Connections guide for tips on how to solve the puzzle without our help.
Today's Connections answer — hints to help you solve it
Unlike our guide to today's Wordle answer, where we recommend the best Wordle start words as your strategy, solving Connections relies on identifying connecting categories among 16 words. Each category's difficulty level is represented by a color; yellow is the easiest grouping, and purple is the most challenging. Once you've made 4 mistakes in your guesses, the answers will be revealed, so hints can be helpful.
Today's Connections words are: Cookie, Bear, Spinach, Shoulder, Crook, Anchor, Elbow, Cheat, Pipe, Handle, Bend, Forearm, Fitted, Angle, Assume, Balance
If you need hints to solve the groupings, then here are the themes of each, based on the order of difficulty:
- 🟨 Yellow: Take on, as a responsibility
- 🟩 Green: Corners
- 🟦 Blue: Associated with Popeye
- 🟪 Purple: ___ sheet
These hints should get you at least some of the way towards finding today's Connections answers. If not, then you can read on for bigger clues; or, if you just want to know the answer, then scroll down further.
Here's a larger hint: Check crannies for cartoon sailors, just don't fill up your plate too much.
Today's Connections answers
So, what are today's Connections answers for game #589?
Drumroll, please...
- 🟨 Take on, as a responsibility: Assume, Bear, Handle, Shoulder
- 🟩 Corners: Angle, Bend, Crook, Elbow
- 🟦 Associated with Popeye: Anchor, Forearm, Pipe, Spinach
- 🟪 ___ sheet: Balance, Cheat, Cookie, Fitted
The Connections Crew is on a three-day streak with these level 3 puzzles. Starting off with the green category, it was tricky to puzzle out amid all the other handyman words thrown in there but Angle, Bend, Crook, and Elbow had specificity in common, which singled them out.
After that came the yellow category with Assume, Bear, Handle, Shoulder.
I was pretty clueless for a bit trying to figure out the last two categories. But something about Spinach finally clued me into what they were going for with the blue category, and I quickly nabbed Anchor, Forearm, and Pipe along with it.
That left the purple category as today's rote fill with Balance, Cheat, Cookie, and Fitted — a deceptively simple category that nonetheless had me stumped until the connection was revealed.
Yesterday's Connections answers
- 🟨 Fund: Kitty, Pool, Pot, Purse
- 🟩 Court Filing: Action, Case, Claim, Suit
- 🟦 Landforms: Basin, Bluff, Cape, Plain
- 🟪 They Have Rays: Aquarium, Geometry, Sun, Tampa Bay
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Connections answers for game #588, which had a difficulty rating of 3 out of 5, according to the Connections Companion.
Tampa Bay was the clear outlier in today's puzzle, and after chewing over it for a bit I realized the pun the Connections Crew was aiming for with the purple category, which was rounded out with Aquarium, Geometry, and Sun.
I had Law & Order on the TV for background noise, so it's little wonder that the green category came next with Action, Case, Claim, and Suit.
After that, I dug into what I remembered of high school geography to dig out Basin, Bluff, Cape, and Plain for the blue category.
That only left today's easiest category with Kitty, Pool, Pot, and Purse. I tried linking up the last three at one point but gave up when I couldn't find a fourth. You can tell I'm not a poker player because I've never heard Kitty used in that context; I thought we were talking about baby cats.
