Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’re having a tremendous week.

It’s been ridiculously hot here, with temperatures feeling like 46C (that’s about 118F in fake numbers, apparently). So, this week, I have been doing little more than staying in my air-conditioned domicile and using the pool. Thankfully, I’ve had just about enough energy to do all my work, so there’s no need to worry about losing out on the best Connections hints and answers column around :)

Before we begin, we have a great little community on Discord, where we chat about NYT Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It’s a fun hangout spot, and you’re more than welcome to hang out with us.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at the comments or Twitter much. You can also read my weekend editions of this column at my new newsletter, Pastimes.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, June 26 are coming right up.

How To Play Connections

Connections is a free, popular New York Times daily word game. You get a new puzzle at midnight every day. You can play on the NYT’s website or Games app.

You’re presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by figuring out the links between them. The groups could be things like items you can click, names for research study participants or words preceded by a body part.

There’s only one solution for each puzzle, and you’ll need to be careful when it comes to words that might fit into more than one category. You can shuffle the words to perhaps help you see links between them.

Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the most difficult one. The purple group often involves wordplay.

Select four words you think go together and press Submit. If you make a guess and you’re incorrect, you’ll lose a life. If you’re close to having a correct group, you might see a message telling you that you’re one word away from getting it right, but you’ll still need to figure out which one to swap.

If you make four mistakes, it’s game over. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen with the help of some hints, and, if you’re really struggling, today’s Connections answers. As with Wordle and other similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends on social media and group chats.

If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the publication’s Connections archive. This includes every previous game of Connections, so you can go back and play any of those that you have missed.

Aside from the first 60 games or so, you should be able to find our hints Google if you need them! Just click here and add the date of the game for which you need clues or the answers to the search query.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

• LOVELACE
• ENIGMA
• SEWING
• SUITS
• VENDING
• HAWKING
• DRESSING
• MCQUEEN
• GOLIATH
• PROTEIN
• PINBALL
• DAMAGES
• CHEESE
• BOJACK
• MATLOCK
• LETTUCE

And the hints for today’s Connections groups are:

• ? Yellow group — elements of a healthy meal or side dish
• ? Green group — engine and clock would fit in here
• ? Blue group — some may say it's necessary to fight the good fight to maintain law and order
• ? Purple group — they come in packs, right?

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

• ? Yellow group — DRESSING
• ? Green group — SEWING
• ? Blue group — SUITS
• ? Purple group —HAWKING

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

• ? Yellow group — components of a salad
• ? Green group — kinds of machines
• ? Blue group — legal dramas
• ? Purple group — ending with playing cards

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

• ? Yellow group — components of a salad (CHEESE, DRESSING, LETTUCE, PROTEIN)
• ? Green group — kinds of machines (ENIGMA, PINBALL, SEWING, VENDING)
• ? Blue group — legal dramas (DAMAGES, GOLIATH, MATLOCK, SUITS)
• ? Purple group — ending with playing cards (BOJACK, HAWKING, LOVELACE, MCQUEEN)

LOVELACE stuck out like a sore thumb. As I looked at the construction of that and some other words on the grid, the purples became obvious. ENIGMA and VENDING made the greens pretty clear too.

I wasn't familiar with GOLIATH, but I knew that DAMAGES, SUITS and MATLOCK were all TV dramas. So that got me the blues. For what it's worth, the very first episode of Damages I ever saw was the series finale.

Then all I had left were the yellows. I had a sneaking suspicion that these related to my favorite type of salad, a Caesar, but it was a bit more generic than that.

I can't complain with a purple-first perfect game. That extends my streak to 121 wins. Here's my grid:

????
????
????
????

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Friday’s game if you need them.

P.S. This was one of those random finds that the YouTube algorithm is kind enough to bestow upon me from time to time. Laurels are a three-piece band from the Osaka area of Japan. They say their "music is characterized by a unique mix of alternative and grunge styles and a powerful singing voice."

"Giant Killer" is the first song I’ve ever heard from them. It’s a fun garage rock track that drew me in instantly with a cool bass riff. It's a great fit for a sleepy summer Thursday. I hope you dig it too:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Please follow my blog for more coverage of NYT Connections and other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. You can also read my weekend editions of this column at my new newsletter, Pastimes.

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