NYT Connections for June 27, 2026, puzzle #1112, was tricky because the board mixed obvious-looking words with hidden wordplay. Several answers seemed connected by repeated “walk” endings, but that was only part of the puzzle’s misdirection.
The main traps came from words linked to Monopoly, fashion shows, striped objects and horse gaits. Boardwalk, Catwalk, Crosswalk and Firewalk looked like one clean group at first glance, but each one actually belonged to a different category.
NYT Connections June 27 Hints
Yellow hint: Think of a classic board game where players buy property, pay taxes and land on utilities.
Sharper clue: These are all spaces found on a Monopoly board.
Trap to avoid: Do not let Boardwalk pull you into a “walk” group. Its board-game meaning matters more.
Green hint: Think runway, style, clothing and presentation.
Sharper clue: These are things you would expect around a fashion show.
Trap to avoid: Catwalk may look like another “walk” word, but here it belongs with fashion.
Blue hint: Think of things that commonly have stripes, lines or banded markings.
Sharper clue: Some are objects, while one is something you see on the road.
Trap to avoid: Crosswalk is not grouped because of “walk.” It works because of its striped appearance.
Purple hint: Look at the ends of the words, not the whole meanings.
Sharper clue: Each answer hides a horse gait at the end.
Trap to avoid: These words are not directly about horses. The trick is in the final sounds or letter groups.
Common wrong paths: The easiest wrong group was Boardwalk, Catwalk, Crosswalk and Firewalk. That set looks tempting because all four contain “walk,” but the puzzle splits them across Monopoly, fashion, striped objects and hidden horse gaits.
Another likely mistake was treating Short Line as a phrase about straight lines because of the blue clue, when it actually belongs to Monopoly. Envelope and Decanter were also easy to overlook because their horse-gait endings are hidden inside ordinary words.
Today’s NYT Connections Answers
Yellow Group
Tap to reveal Yellow answers
Category: Monopoly squares
Answers: Boardwalk, Income Tax, Short Line, Water Works
Explanation: These are all spaces from the Monopoly board. Boardwalk is one of the best-known properties, Income Tax is a payment square, Short Line is a railroad and Water Works is a utility.
Main trap: Boardwalk looks like it should connect with other “walk” words, while Short Line can mislead players toward straight-line or striped-object thinking.
Green Group
Tap to reveal Green answers
Category: Components of a fashion show
Answers: Catwalk, Collection, Designer, Model
Explanation: A designer presents a collection, models wear the looks, and the catwalk is where the presentation happens.
Best solving anchor: Designer and Model are the clearest starting pair. Once those are linked, Collection and Catwalk complete the fashion-show set.
Blue Group
Tap to reveal Blue answers
Category: Commonly striped things
Answers: Barber Pole, Billiard Ball, Credit Card, Crosswalk
Explanation: Each answer is commonly associated with stripes or visible line patterns. A Barber Pole has spiral stripes, some Billiard Balls are striped, many Credit Cards include stripe elements, and Crosswalks are marked with road stripes.
Main trap: Crosswalk looks like part of the “walk” decoy, but the correct clue is visual, not word-based.
Purple Group
Tap to reveal Purple answers
Category: Ending in horse gaits
Answers: Decanter, Envelope, Firewalk, Foxtrot
Explanation: Each word ends with a horse gait: decanter, envelope, firewalk and foxtrot.
Main trap: This was the most hidden group because the complete words do not point to horses. The solve depends on spotting the endings: canter, lope, walk and trot.
Today’s puzzle was a good reminder that repeated word parts can be traps. When four words look connected too quickly, test whether each one has a stronger meaning elsewhere. Here, the “walk” pattern was the decoy that made the Monopoly, fashion, striped-object and horse-gait groups harder to separate.
For official gameplay, players can visit the New York Times Connections page.
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