The NYT Connections puzzle for January 5th, 2025 (#574) presents a challenging word grouping exercise. If you're stuck, this guide offers hints, solutions, and explanations without revealing the gameplay rules.
The puzzle words are: Stop, Gross, Make, Home, Yield, Volume, Slow, Snare, Quiet, Kettle, Net, Mute, Ear, Sleepy, Oil, and Calm.

Hints and Solutions:
We'll break down the solutions by color-coded category, offering increasing levels of assistance.
Yellow Category (Easy):

- Hint: Think about characteristics of a small, peaceful town.
- Answer: Hardly Bustling
- Words: Calm, Quiet, Sleepy, Slow
Green Category (Medium):

- Hint: Relates to the process of acquiring money or profit.
- Answer: Earn
- Words: Gross, Make, Net, Yield
Blue Category (Hard):

- Hint: Consider functions found on a typical remote control.
- Answer: Remote Control Functions
- Words: Home, Mute, Stop, Volume
Purple Category (Tricky):

- Hint: Each word can be combined with a four-letter word to create a common compound word.
- Answer: Words Before Drum
- Words: Ear, Kettle, Oil, Snare
Complete Solution:

- Yellow - Hardly Bustling: Calm, Quiet, Sleepy, Slow
- Green - Earn: Gross, Make, Net, Yield
- Blue - Remote Control Functions: Home, Mute, Stop, Volume
- Purple - Words Before Drum: Ear, Kettle, Oil, Snare
Ready to test your skills? Find the NYT Connections puzzle online.