NYT Connections for June 21, 2026, puzzle #1106, looked approachable at first because the yellow group was fairly direct. The challenge came from how often the board changed its logic: weather words, figurative reaction verbs, sitcom titles and prefix-based wordplay all appeared in the same puzzle.
The main traps came from everyday words such as Friends, Community, Wings, Floors and Rocks. Several answers looked like they belonged to ordinary categories, but the solve depended on recognizing when a word was acting as a title, a reaction verb or only the beginning of a longer word.
NYT Connections June 21 Hints
Yellow hint: Think about wet weather.
Sharper clue: These are all forms or descriptions of precipitation.
Trap to avoid: Do not separate the words by intensity. The category covers both direct rain and lighter falling water.
Green hint: Think of being emotionally knocked back.
Sharper clue: These words can mean to amaze, shock or overwhelm someone.
Trap to avoid: Floors and Rocks may look physical, but here they work as figurative reaction verbs.
Blue hint: Think of TV titles.
Sharper clue: These are sitcoms associated with NBC.
Trap to avoid: Friends and Community look like social words, while Wings can point toward birds, planes or food.
Purple hint: Look at the first few letters.
Sharper clue: Each answer begins with a word that can work as an insult or put-down.
Trap to avoid: The full words do not share a normal definition. The hidden link is at the start.
Common wrong paths: A likely mistake was grouping Friends and Community as social words instead of recognizing them as sitcom titles. Wings could also pull solvers toward flying, birds or restaurant food, making the blue group easy to miss.
In green, Floors and Rocks may seem like nouns or physical actions, but the intended connection is figurative. Purple was probably the last group for many players because Barbados, Diggity, Dissect and Slapdash only connect through their opening pieces: barb, dig, dis and slap.
Todayâs NYT Connections Answers
Yellow Group
Tap to reveal Yellow answers
Category: Precipitation
Answers: Drizzle, Rain, Showers, Sprinkles
Explanation: These are all forms or descriptions of precipitation, ranging from direct rain to lighter or scattered falling water.
Best solving anchor: Rain is the cleanest anchor because it immediately points toward the weather category.
Main trap: Showers and Sprinkles can have other everyday meanings, but the shared weather reading is the intended path.
Green Group
Tap to reveal Green answers
Category: Bowls over
Answers: Floors, Rocks, Stuns, Surprises
Explanation: Each word can describe a strong reaction. To floor, rock, stun or surprise someone is to emotionally knock them back or overwhelm them.
Best solving anchor: Stuns is the clearest anchor because it strongly signals shock or amazement.
Main trap: Floors and Rocks look like physical nouns or actions, so the group only works once they are read figuratively.
Blue Group
Tap to reveal Blue answers
Category: NBC sitcoms
Answers: Community, Friends, Scrubs, Wings
Explanation: These are all sitcom titles associated with NBC, in the same clue space as shows like Seinfeld and Cheers.
Best solving anchor: Scrubs is a useful anchor because it is less likely to be mistaken for a broad social or everyday word on this board.
Main trap: Community and Friends are ordinary words, so solvers who do not shift into TV-title thinking could miss the group.
Purple Group
Tap to reveal Purple answers
Category: Starting with kinds of insults
Answers: Barbados, Diggity, Dissect, Slapdash
Explanation: The starts of the words are the key: Barbados begins with barb, Diggity begins with dig, Dissect begins with dis, and Slapdash begins with slap. Each opening can work as an insult-related word or put-down.
Best solving anchor: Dissect is useful because dis is easy to recognize as slang for insulting someone.
Main trap: The full words are intentionally unrelated. This group required prefix spotting, not definition matching.
Todayâs board rewarded flexible solving. The fastest route was to lock in the direct weather group, then shift to figurative verbs for green, TV-title recognition for blue and prefix wordplay for purple.
For official gameplay, players can visit the New York Times Connections page.
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