The New York Times’ daily word puzzle game, NYT Connections, continues to engage puzzle enthusiasts worldwide. For January 8, 2025, players are grappling with a tricky set of categories, but fear not—this guide offers helpful hints and solutions to ensure your victory in today’s game #577.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today's Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands and Connections puzzles. So the very first clue today tripped me up.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If today's Wordle puzzle has left you lost for words, fret not—even the game's inventor regularly finds it a challenge. "[My partner] and I play it on the couch together each morning," New York-based software engineer Josh Wardle told Newsweek in January 2022.

Looking for help with today's NYT Strands puzzle? Here's an extra hint to help you uncover the right words, as well as all of today's answers and Spangram.