January 10, 2026

NYT Connections Hint - January 10, 2026

Good morning, puzzle enthusiasts! Welcome back to day two of my Connections journey—if you missed yesterday’s victory dance (a broom doubles as a microphone), catch up later. Today’s grid hit different: I was staring at ‘DIP’, ‘JET’, and ‘BOOK’ like they owed me money. In the end, I cracked the categories, tripped over ‘Software Platforms’ for way too long (ask me why ‘WEB’ isn’t a spider), and laughed at the ‘Units of Measure’ group. Ever had one of those days? If yes, you’re in good company. So grab your coffee, take a breath, and join me as we untangle today’s tricky web.

Word Explanations

  • BOOK

    • BOOK—more than an object to rest on your nightstand. You can BOOK a table, a vacation, or even a movie seat. Behind the scenes, it’s about tying down plans like a knot. I’ve got a stack of unread novels next to my bed, and I’m totally failing to ‘book’ time to read any of them. Life, huh?

  • BAR

    • BAR—pressure unit that sounds like a place to get a drink, but it’s actually used by meteorologists to talk about atmospheric pressure. ‘Bar’ also shows up in chocolate bars, which is way more fun. One bar is about sea-level pressure. Enough to give you bragging rights at trivia night (or so I tell myself).

  • GRAM

    • GRAM—unit of mass that pops up on nutrition labels and in my high-school chemistry labs. One GRAM is about the weight of a paperclip—and if you ‘gram’ photos, well, it’s Instagram slang too. Fun double meaning! I lose track of grams when I bake, which is why my pancakes are sometimes bricks.

  • SPLIT

    • SPLIT—aka ‘to separate, break or divide.’ But get this: in dance, a split moves your legs off the ground inelegance. And ‘split ends’ in hair—yeah, those are still frustrating even in winter. I accidentally ‘split’ tea the other day across a stack of books. Mood? Definitely wrecked.

  • TUBE

    • TUBE—hollow, often flexible, sometimes used in crafts or by teenagers to smuggle giant cookies to their rooms. Whether a TUBE of toothpaste or a long train TUBE, this shape gets the job done. In math, ‘tube’ can also mean a space, but I didn’t have the brainpower today to go there.

  • WEB

    • WEB—a living net for spiders, literally a complex grid connecting digital stuff. The web spun worldwide access to anything from cat memes to rocket science. In nature, it’s a masterpiece of engineering; in tech, it’s just a cool name everyone gets. Did you know some spiders’ webs are even water-repellent? Amazing!

  • JET

    • JET—like a fast airplane, or if you’re a fish, those awesome high-powered fins! JET streams also zip around Earth’s atmosphere. As a verb, you ‘JET’ off somewhere quickly. In my mind, I ‘JET’ to the kitchen when dinner is ready—like it doesn’t require walking.

  • APP

    • APP—tiny digital tools hiding in your phone or computer. Your texting APP, your music APP, the one that reminds you to hydrate. They’re the new magic! Fun fact: ‘APP’ originally meant ‘application’, but now we just call them ‘apps’. Like that’s its name.

  • MOLE

    • MOLE—a unit in chemistry measuring the amount of substance. One MOLE equals about 6.022 × 10^23 things. Yep, that number again! And a real MOLE is that small furry digger—underground like a tiny earth-driller. I always mix them up in quizzes, probably because both names are adorable.

  • STRAW

    • STRAW—paper or plastic? Either way, it’s a tiny TUBE to sip from. The plastic ones get a bad rap for polluting rivers, while paper is trying hard to be the hero. In games or sports, a STRAW might even decide who goes first. Whatever its role, it’s basically your beverage’s personal highway lane.

  • DESKTOP

    • DESKTOP—your trusty computer workspace, more stable than MOBILE for serious tasks. The DESKTOP environment is where icons live, programs arrange themselves neatly. It’s also a type of publishing style—remember school projects shot together in ‘desktop publishing’? Times have changed, but the memories stuck.

  • PIPE

    • PIPE—move gas, water or steam with style. PIPE systems exist everywhere from plumbing to instruments like organ pipes. If you dig into anatomy, there are eustachian PIPEs too. In rock, that’s slang for ‘amazing’… but not today, folks.

  • HOSE

    • HOSE—garden’s best friend, spraying water like a hose pro. Some HOSES fire flames (firefighter HOSE), while others are flexible garden helpers. Beware: a kink in a HOSE is like a hiccup—stops the water and makes you curse. I’ve done that, more than once, sadly.

  • DIP

    • DIP—when you lower something into something else (like chips into sauce), or it’s a temporary decline (like your energy DIP). You can DIP a candle into wax or DIP your bike wheel into water. I tried that last one last summer and learned the hard way about electronics and puddles.

  • VOLT

    • VOLT—electric potential, powering gadgets and your home alike. It’s the electrical nudge that makes electrons start flowing. If you ever wondered how many VOLTS it takes to light a bulb, usually about 120—though LEDs are forgiving. Fun nerdy history: Alessandro Volta invented the battery!

  • MOBILE

    • MOBILE—built for life in your pocket! MOBILE software lets you carry apps and sites anywhere. Plus, ‘mobile’ can mean literally able to move, like a MOBILE home. In art, mobiles are those spinning sculptures that can be surprisingly hypnotizing. If you’re still awake by now, they’ll lull you to sleep.

Theme Hints

  1. HOLLOW CYLINDERS

    • Picture your neighborhood hardware store. Something that’s long, hollow, and often used to carry things. Think ‘empty corridors’ that get the job done.

  2. SOFTWARE PLATFORMS

    • If an app lived at an address—it would choose a platform. Think places where code calls home.

  3. TAKE OFF

    • Think of tasks where you literally move something off… or take it off. Maybe you’re packing a flight or unpacking something else.

  4. UNITS OF MEASURE

    • Picture your high-school science bag. You’ve got meters, kilograms, seconds… Wait, which ones exactly?

Answers Explanation

Click to reveal answers!

  1. HOLLOW CYLINDERS

    :HOSE,PIPE,STRAW,TUBE

    • Think of things that are literally hollow inside—like a drinking straw, but bigger, stronger, and way less fun to sip through. HOSE carries garden water like a boss, PIPE moves air or gas like a quiet superhero, and TUBE is that flexible friend who slides into pretty much any job. You’ll find these in your home, your backyard, and sometimes in gym locker rooms. Fun fact? Back in Roman times, they used lead PIPE systems. Bet they wished they had Instagram to show off their plumbing!

  2. SOFTWARE PLATFORMS

    :APP,DESKTOP,MOBILE,WEB

    • Software Platforms—they’re like neighborhoods in the digital city where developers build their apps and people cruise around. APPs are a dime a dozen, DESKTOP is your reliable old office block on your computer, MOBILE is the hip moving street that lives in your pocket, and WEB is that vast open space with every rabbit hole you could imagine. And wow, don’t ask how long it took me to not put 'WEB' under Animals.

  3. TAKE OFF

    :BOOK,DIP,JET,SPLIT

    • TAKE OFF—hold on, what? It sounds like we’re packing luggage for a trip! These are all things you can ‘take OFF’ in some context. BOOK a flight reservation has a literal ‘bookingOFF process’, DIP the candle and you’re partially ‘dippingOFF’ the wax, JET in the air you’d ‘JET OFF’ your seat, and SPLIT—well, when something ‘splits off’, it peels away. It took me way too long on this one. If it helps, think of checklists or action words that follow ‘take OFF’.

  4. UNITS OF MEASURE

    :BAR,GRAM,MOLE,VOLT

    • Units of Measure—the nerdy-but-cool quartet that science teachers love! BAR (pressure), GRAM (mass), MOLE (chemistry’s go-to for atoms or molecules), and VOLT (electric potential). If you were thinking a bar of chocolate measured by grams, or a mole of cute furry animals—stop! These are textbook units. Oh, and fun fact: 1 gram is roughly the weight of a paperclip, and a MOLE is 6.022 × 10^23 particles of something (that’s a big number!). I still get a little intimidated by Volt, but it’s just electricity’s favorite child.

And there we have it—another Connections adventure wrapped up with mostly steady hands and a few eyebrow-raising moments. Hey, nobody said this was going to be easy, and honestly? The bumpy rides are usually the most fun. If you loved today’s Units of Measure section (because, same), or were slightly terrified of the Hollow Cylinders category like I was, that’s totally valid. Tomorrow’s another blank canvas. I can’t wait to see what wild themes they throw at us next—maybe something even trickier, maybe something sweet. Either way, I’ll be here with coffee, curiosity, and maybe a goofy metaphor or two. See you on the other side of the puzzle!