NYT Connections for June 26, 2026, puzzle #1111, starts off looking straightforward before becoming much more deceptive. The yellow category is fairly easy to spot, but the remaining groups blur together because several words naturally point toward more than one theme.
The biggest stumbling block is the purple category. Instead of grouping words by meaning, today’s puzzle asks players to recognize hidden color names with one extra letter attached. Words such as Nut, Board, Tree and Hollow also create several convincing wrong paths.
NYT Connections June 26 Hints
Yellow hint: Think about foods you might reach for during a movie or party.
Sharper clue: Every answer is a crunchy snack.
Trap to avoid: Do not send Nut into the wood-related group too early.
Green hint: Think about different forms or amounts of wood.
Sharper clue: Imagine starting with a living tree and reducing it into smaller pieces.
Trap to avoid: Board may suggest games or serving food, but here it points to lumber.
Blue hint: Think geography.
Sharper clue: Each answer describes a place where land sits lower than its surroundings.
Trap to avoid: Do not group them as general nature words. The lower-ground idea is the key.
Purple hint: Ignore what the words normally mean.
Sharper clue: Look for color names hidden inside each word with one extra letter added.
Trap to avoid: Bronzer, Redo, Tang and Pinky only connect when broken apart by spelling.
Common wrong paths: Many players may connect Nut with Tree, but that blocks the snack category. Board can also pull players toward games or serving boards instead of wood. The landscape words — Dale, Dell, Gorge and Hollow — look like broad outdoor vocabulary, but they specifically point to low ground.
The toughest trap is purple, where solving by definition leads nowhere. The pattern only clicks after spotting hidden color words with one extra letter attached.
Why Puzzle #1111 Was Harder Than It Looked
Today’s Connections board used one of the game’s favorite tricks: overlapping meanings. Several words fit two possible ideas, making it easy to burn guesses before the intended categories become clear.
The snack group looked simple once Pretzel and Cracker were paired, but Nut doubled as a tree-related word. Likewise, Board seemed flexible until the wood connection became stronger.
The purple category raised the difficulty because it was not meaning-based. Players had to inspect the spelling of each answer and notice embedded colors rather than rely on dictionary definitions.
Today’s NYT Connections Answers
Yellow Group
Tap to reveal Yellow answers
Category: Crunchy snack item
Answers: Chip, Cracker, Nut, Pretzel
Explanation: Every answer is a familiar crunchy snack commonly eaten on its own or served at parties.
Main trap: Nut naturally belongs with trees, making it one of today’s strongest misleading words.
Best solving anchor: Pretzel quickly points toward snack foods and helps remove the ambiguity around Nut.
Green Group
Tap to reveal Green answers
Category: Various amounts of wood
Answers: Board, Log, Splinter, Tree
Explanation: These words describe wood at different stages, from an entire tree to a small splinter.
Main trap: Board can suggest games, signs or serving trays, but lumber is the intended connection.
Best solving anchor: Splinter strongly suggests wood and helps lock the category together.
Blue Group
Tap to reveal Blue answers
Category: Areas of low ground
Answers: Dale, Dell, Gorge, Hollow
Explanation: Each answer can refer to a natural landform where the terrain sits lower than nearby ground.
Main trap: These words look like broad nature vocabulary, but elevation is the true connection.
Best solving anchor: Dale and Dell are closely related geographic terms that help reveal the pattern.
Purple Group
Tap to reveal Purple answers
Category: Colors plus a letter
Answers: Bronzer, Pinky, Redo, Tang
Explanation: Each answer contains a color name with one extra letter added:
- Bronzer = Bronze + R
- Pinky = Pink + Y
- Redo = Red + O
- Tang = Tan + G
Main trap: Every word has its own everyday meaning, which makes the hidden color pattern easy to overlook.
Best solving anchor: Once Redo reveals Red, the rest of the group becomes easier to see.
Today’s solving lesson: Puzzle #1111 rewarded careful elimination more than quick pattern matching. When a word comfortably fits multiple groups, such as Nut or Board, leave it aside until a clearer four-word category forms. Saving ambiguous words for later often exposes the intended Connections pattern with fewer mistakes.
For official gameplay, players can visit the New York Times Connections page.
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