Find the links between the words to win today's game of Connections.gettyLooking for Mondays Connections hints and answers instead? You can find them here:Hey, everyone! I hope your week is off to a great start.There are only a few more games until we get to the 600th edition of Connections. Is anyone else starting to get nervous about the prospect of having a fiendishly difficult, streak-busting grid on Friday? I certainly am.Before we get going, Ive started a discussion group for Connections and this column on Discord. You can chat about each game (and other topics) with me and other folks. Im always interested to find out how other people approach the game, so join us! Its fun.Its also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare(!) occasions that I mess something up.Todays NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, January 28, are coming right up.How To Play ConnectionsConnections is a free, popular New York Times daily word game. You get a new puzzle at midnight every day. You can play on the NYT website or Games app.MORE FOR YOUYoure presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by figuring out the links between them. The groups could be things like items you can click, names for research study participants or words preceded by a body part.Theres only one solution for each puzzle, and youll need to be careful when it comes to words that might fit into more than one category. You can shuffle the words to perhaps help you see links between them.Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the most difficult one. The purple group often involves wordplay.Select four words you think go together and press Submit. If you make a guess and youre incorrect, youll lose a life. If youre close to having a correct group, you might see a message telling you that youre one word away from getting it right, but youll still need to figure out which one to swap.If you make four mistakes, its game over. Lets make sure that doesnt happen with the help of some hints, and, if youre really struggling, todays Connections answers. As with Wordle and other similar games, its easy to share results with your friends on social media and group chats.If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the publications Connections archive. This includes every previous game of Connections, so you can go back and play any of those that you have missed.Aside from the first 60 games or so, you should be able to find my hints for each grid via Google if you need them! Just click here and add the date of the game for which you need clues or the answers to the search query.What Are Todays Connections Hints?Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of todays Connections groups, Ill reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.Todays 16 words are...DEMONLAUGHJOKERAIRHEADCARDBANDCHESSDUMBBELLSNICKERCHARACTERMATMARBUMPMOUNDDIALBENCHAnd the hints for todays Connections groups are:Yellow group they're, like, hilariousGreen group gym gearBlue group shortened sweetsPurple group "racer" and "dating" would fit in hereWhat Are Todays Connections Groups?Need some extra help?Be warned: were starting to get into spoiler territory.Todays Connections groups are...Yellow group funny personGreen group resistance training equipmentBlue group candy bars minus "s"Purple group speed ____What Are Todays Connections Answers?Spoiler alert! Dont scroll any further down the page until youre ready to find out todays Connections answers.This is your final warning!Todays Connections answers are...Yellow group funny person (CARD, CHARACTER, JOKER, LAUGH)Green group resistance training equipment (BAND, BENCH, DUMBBELL, MAT)Blue group candy bars minus "s" (AIRHEAD, MAR, MOUND, SNICKER)Purple group speed ____ (BUMP, CHESS, DEMON, DIAL)A baker's dozen of perfect games in a row extends my overall streak to 16 games. Here's how I fared:I'm ashamed to say it, but I broke a personal rule with today's game.SNICKER caught my attention immediately. When it became clear that and LAUGH were a red herring combo, it had to be a reference to the candy bar Snickers, minus the "S." MAR was the only other word that obviously fit that description. I really didn't know what else would go with those, since I am not overly familiar with American confectionary. AIRHEAD and MOUND seemed like the most likely candidates but, sigh, I had to look them up to be sure.I generally don't look up words when I'm playing Connections and am annoyed at myself for breaking this self-imposed restriction. However, I'm a firm believer in playing the game however you wish. I closed my Google tab after sealing the blues.I thought those might have been the purple words, but no such luck and the dream of a reverse rainbow was over for another day. So I had no hesitation in submitting the greens once I spotted them.After a few more moments of gazing at the grid, I had an "aha!" moment and deduced the purple words. A speed DEMON is just something that moves very fast (as well as a Marvel comic book villain and a Michael Jackson song). Does speed DIAL even technically exist anymore? I don't know, I haven't had a landline for nearly 15 years.I suspect the yellows might be difficult for some folks. CARD is a very antiquated term for a funny person (I certainly didn't make that link right away), and someone can certainly be called "a good LAUGH" but that may not be a common usage in many parts of the world. Still, I hope your streak stayed intact!Thats all there is to it for todays Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Wednesdays game if you need them.P.S. Back in the day, when I used to go out pretty much every weekend, theres a song that would always put a smile on one of my best friends faces whenever it came on at the club. Its hard to argue that Call On Me by Eric Prydz isnt catchy as heck. The official music video is probably too risqu for this publication (if you know, you know), so heres a lyric video instead:This samples a song by Steve Winwood called Valerie. Winwood was gracious enough to re-record his vocals for Call On Me:Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Call someone you love!If youre so inclined, please do follow my blog for more coverage of Connections and other word games and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Also, follow me on Bluesky! Its fun there.