Cracking Today's Connections: Your Guide to the January 10th Puzzle

Oh, the daily delight (and sometimes utter torment!) of the New York Times Connections puzzle. It's truly become a morning ritual for so many of us, hasn't it? Just sixteen words, seemingly innocent, yet hiding four distinct groups of four, each linked by some clever, often devious, theme. You spend a few minutes staring, then a few more, a little spark of recognition, then a dead end. That's the beauty and the beast of it!

Today, January 10th, might have felt like one of those days where the connections were playing particularly hard to get. Perhaps you breezed through one or two categories, only to find yourself utterly stuck on the remaining words, feeling like they could belong anywhere and nowhere all at once. It’s a common experience, trust me. Sometimes, all it takes is a tiny nudge, a gentle whisper in the right direction, to untangle the knot.

Before we dive any deeper, a quick but important heads-up: we’re about to venture into spoiler territory. If you're just looking for a little push to get unstuck and want to keep the thrill of solving it mostly for yourself, excellent! We've got some hints coming up that should do just the trick. But if you’ve thrown in the towel, admitted defeat, and just want to know the answers to today's January 10th Connections, keep scrolling. No judgment here; we’ve all been there!

Alright, let’s talk strategy for today's puzzle. Remember, Connections often thrives on misdirection. Words can have multiple meanings, or belong to multiple potential categories, which is precisely what makes it so challenging and so rewarding when you finally get it right. Sometimes stepping away for a moment, grabbing a cuppa, then coming back with fresh eyes can work wonders. Other times, you need a little more direct assistance.

So, for the January 10th game, if you're feeling a bit lost, consider these gentle nudges: One group might have you thinking about personal care or things you typically find in a particular room of your house. Another set of words points towards various forms of travel or exploration—think about different ways to embark on a journey. Then, there's a category that groups together terms for collections of living creatures, which can often be tricky because English has so many specific ones! And finally, the trickiest one, the purple category, might be looking for words that frequently precede a common illuminating word, creating familiar two-word phrases. Don't overthink it, but do consider those common pairings!

Still wrestling with it? Okay, let's unveil the categories themselves for the January 10th Connections puzzle. Here are the four distinct groups you were looking for:

• YELLOW: BATHROOM ESSENTIALS
• GREEN: TYPES OF JOURNEYS
• BLUE: COLLECTIVE NOUNS FOR ANIMALS
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "LIGHT"

And for those who are ready for the full reveal, the moment of truth has arrived! Here are the complete answers to today's challenging (or perhaps delightfully easy, depending on your brain wiring!) Connections puzzle for January 10th. Take a deep breath, and let's see how you did:

• BATHROOM ESSENTIALS: BRUSH, SHAMPOO, SOAP, TOWEL
• TYPES OF JOURNEYS: EXPEDITION, ODYSSEY, TRIP, VOYAGE
• COLLECTIVE NOUNS FOR ANIMALS: FLOCK, HERD, SCHOOL, SWARM
• WORDS BEFORE "LIGHT": GREEN, MOON, SPOT, TRAFFIC

Well, how did you fare? Whether you conquered it with ease, needed a hint or two, or came straight here for the full solutions, congratulations on playing today's Connections! It's always a good mental workout, and there's always another puzzle waiting tomorrow. Keep those brain cells firing, and we'll be here if you need another guiding hand. Happy puzzling!