Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a tough purple category, to no one’s surprise. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Facebook tasks.

Green group hint: Way far away.

Blue group hint: Think museum displays.

Purple group hint: Letter near the end of the alphabet.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Things you can do on social media.

Green group: Furthest point.

Blue group: Art movements, with «ism.»

Purple group: What «V» might mean.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is things you can do on social media. The four answers are comment, like, lurk and post.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is furthest point. The four answers are end, extreme, opposite and pole.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is art movements, with «ism.»  The four answers are brutal, impression, manner and real.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is what «V» might mean. The four answers are five, versus, very and volt.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

CES is always one of the most hectic weeks of the year for CNET journalists — myself included. I’ll be jumping between booths, often speaking to multiple different companies within the span of an hour, having interesting and intense conversations about different products as I go.

Sometimes these conversations begin before I’ve even had a chance to pull my recorder from my bag, never mind switch it on. Often I end up scribbling down extra details or quotes in my notepad — a fun challenge for my memory and eyes when the time comes to sit down and write and I’m forced to decipher my own handwriting.

Not this year, though. At CES 2026, AI note-taking company Plaud is launching its new NotePin S, an AI wearable that can clip to your collar, strap onto your wrist, hang around your neck or cling to your shirt with a magnet and record your conversations as you go about your day.

Plaud sent me this updated version of the NotePin ahead of CES, so I’ll be able to test it out as I wander the show floors. Just as with the previous version of the pin and the Plaud Note Pro, which the company announced back in August, the NotePin S connects to your phone via Bluetooth, and transcriptions of your conversations will appear in the Plaud app.

I already expect the NotePin S, which is a sleek pill-shaped device that’s smaller than a USB stick, to be a game changer for me as I roam the halls of CES. In a briefing ahead of the show, Plaud said that the pin had been successfully tested out at the Dreamforce conference earlier this year, so I know the dual microphones, which have a range of around 9.8 feet, are capable of working well in a noisy convention center. 

To activate the recording, all I’ll need to do is long press on the front of the pin. But the feature I’m most looking forward to testing out is the press to highlight button on the pin, which will allow me to mark key moments in conversations so they’ll be easy to find when I come to look through my transcriptions later.

I’m also glad that, thanks to the range of the wearable accessories bundled with the NotePin S, the device will work with a variety of different outfits. In such a busy environment, I might be tempted to use the lanyard to carry it around my neck, but on the days I’m wearing a jacket, the lapel clip might be more suitable. For sit-down interviews, I’m tempted to switch to wristband so that I can press to highlight with the least amount of intrusion into the conversation.

For when I’m back home, conducting interviews from the comfort of my office, Plaud has another new toy for me to play with. At CES the company also announced Plaud Desktop — an AI notetaker designed to bridge in-person and online meetings by capturing your conversations natively. 

This means no intrusive meeting bots joining your call. (If you know, you know.) Instead, it will sit on your computer and detect when a meeting is taking place, record that meeting discreetly and then provide a context-rich summary within your Plaud account.

The most appealing part of this for me is the idea that all of my notes, meetings and conversations — whether captured by my wearable or my computer — will be accessible and organized in one place.

Both the NotePin S and Plaud Desktop will be available immediately, with the pin costing $179 (£159).

While CES 2026 won’t be too focused on phones, Belkin has a suite of new products to keep them charged and their displays protected. There are even a few products specifically designed for laptops and gamers.

Belkin’s main offering is a trio of power banks to recharge your devices on the go. The UltraCharge Pro Power Bank 10K, unsurprisingly, boasts a 10,000-mAh capacity. This power bank can charge two devices simultaneously, either via USB-C at 30W or wirelessly at 25W. It’ll be available in February. It’s priced at $100, which roughly converts to $75 or AU$150.

The BoostCharge Slim Magnetic Power Bank with Stand is available in two capacities: 5,000-mAh ($60) and 10,000-mAh ($85), with wired charging speeds of 20W and 30W, respectively. Both also offer 15W wireless charging and will be available in the second quarter of 2026.

Lastly among the power banks, the $150 UltraCharge Pro Laptop 27K has a 27,000-mAh capacity and can charge with up to 240W total output among its multiple ports, which can charge up to three devices at once. It also has a small display to show the remaining battery percentage. This power bank will be available in March. 

The company is also adding to its lineup of Nintendo Switch 2 charging cases with a new $100 Pro model. This one has a removable 10,000-mAh power bank, which charges at 30W, and an LCD screen to show how much battery is left. 

Belkin also has a pair of wireless chargers that support the Qi2 standard at 25W charging speeds. The UltraCharge Pro 2-in-1 ($100) can charge an iPhone and Apple Watch simultaneously and will be available in March. The UltraCharge Modular Charging Dock ($65) can charge up to three devices at once, via two wireless pads and one watch puck (charging at 10W). It’ll be available in the first quarter of 2026. 

Belkin’s trio of screen protectors at CES

Belkin has a new line of screen protectors to safeguard the window to your digital world — and one of them is partially made of liquid.

While the Gorilla Glass used in the screens of most phones is durable, it’s still breakable, and one bad drop could turn a clear display into a spiderweb of regret. Screen protectors are cheap protective layers to reinforce surfaces and reassure phone owners. Belkin’s trio of products, debuting in Las Vegas at CES, defend against display cracks in different ways.

The first of these, the Titan LiquidGuard, uses a combination of water-based silicon oxide, graphene and what Belkin calls Nano-Titan Technology to reinforce phone displays at «the molecular level.» Retailing for $60, this protector has a $300 screen repair guarantee. 

The Titan SmartShield is a conventional rigid screen protector with a surface hardness that’s rated for up to 2 meters of drop protection. The glass making up the SmartShield is made with up to 60% recycled materials, and retails for $50. 

The $50 Titan EcoGuard protects phone screens with an anti-reflective coating. It’s made of 97% preconsumer recycled materials. For $60, two more premium versions of the EcoGuard offer a privacy screen to obscure your phone from onlookers and a red light protector that diminishes blue light, which can keep you up late at night. All three EcoGuard protectors use 100% recycled material in their packaging. 

In addition to a standard warranty, Belkin is offering a new Wear and Tear program to replace screen protectors worn down by everyday use and accidents for free — all you’ll need to pay for is shipping ($10 in the US).