Today’s NYT Connections puzzle for August 11, 2026, brings a clever mix of doomed expressions, familiar cable channels, auctioneer lingo and a particularly tricky group of sound-alike words.
The trickiest answers are AYE, HARE, KNOWS and TUNG. They look unrelated in writing, but saying each word aloud reveals the connection.
NYT Connections hints for August 11
- Yellow: Words meaning someone or something is finished, doomed or in serious trouble.
- Green: Familiar television channels found on traditional US cable packages.
- Blue: Words commonly heard as an auctioneer closes a sale.
- Purple: Say each answer aloud and think about parts of the face.
Main trap: Several words fit naturally into everyday conversation, so the strongest clue comes from context rather than dictionary meaning alone.
Doomed clue: Think of informal ways to say that someone has little chance of escaping a bad outcome.
TV clue: Look for well-known American channels associated with entertainment, culture, history and general programming.
Auction clue: Imagine the familiar rhythm used just before an auctioneer declares an item sold.
Sound clue: Pronunciation matters more than spelling in the hardest group. Each answer sounds like the name of a facial feature.
Today’s NYT Connections answers
Reveal the Yellow Group
Category: Doomed
Answers: DONE, SUNK, THROUGH, TOAST
All four words can describe someone or something facing an almost certain bad outcome. Done and through can mean finished, sunk suggests there is little chance of recovery and toast is an informal way to say someone is in serious trouble.
Reveal the Green Group
Category: Basic cable channels
Answers: BET, BRAVO, HISTORY, USA
All four are familiar US television channels. BET is associated with entertainment and culture programming, Bravo with reality and lifestyle shows, History with history-focused content and USA with general entertainment.
Reveal the Blue Group
Category: Words in an auctioneer’s chant
Answers: GOING, ONCE, SOLD, TWICE
These words are commonly heard as an auctioneer prepares to close a sale. A familiar sequence includes going, once, twice and finally sold.
Reveal the Purple Group
Category: Homophones of facial features
Answers: AYE, HARE, KNOWS, TUNG
The connection becomes clear when the answers are spoken aloud: AYE sounds like eye, HARE sounds like hair, KNOWS sounds like nose and TUNG sounds like tongue.
Today’s solving lesson: When several remaining answers refuse to connect by meaning, read them aloud. Homophones and sound-alike words are a common way Connections hides its hardest category.
Players can attempt the official daily puzzle and review their results on the New York Times Connections page.
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