At a Glance
- Today’s NYT Connections puzzle hides a blue category of bands whose only vowel is “A”
- Answers include Alabama, Bananarama, Kansas and Santana
- Other groups cover hats, bedtime routines and “grand ____” phrases
- Why it matters: The puzzle rewards players who spot the tight linguistic pattern
Today’s New York Times Connections puzzle delivers a stumper in the blue category. While the grid shows familiar band names, the link is far more specific than genre or era.
Jonathan P. Miller reported for News Of Losangeles that the Jan. 16, 2026, game asks solvers to find musical acts whose names contain “A” as the only vowel.
How the groups break down
Yellow: Kinds of hats
- derby
- fedora
- Panama
- porkpie
Green: Components of a kid’s bedtime routine
- bath
- brushing
- pajamas
- story
Blue: Musical acts with “A” as the only vowel
- Alabama
- Bananarama
- Kansas
- Santana
Purple: Grand ____
- Bahama
- Canyon
- piano
- slam
Tips straight from the editors
Say each clue word aloud, pausing before and after. The puzzle often groups words that share common phrasing.
Ignore the obvious. Once the grid offered SPONGE, BOB, SQUARE and PANTS in the same puzzle yet none of those words shared a category.
Break compound words apart. In one game, “Rushmore” appeared because every answer began with the name of a rock band.
Hit shuffle if you need a fresh view of the board.
Track your stats
The Times now runs a Connections Bot that scores each game and tracks player progress. Registered Games-section users can follow completed puzzles, win rate, perfect-score count and current streak.
