NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1109) – Today's Puzzle, June 24
Today’s NYT Connections Tip
GENESIS and CHINA are doing double — and triple — duty here.
Connections Hint for Each Word Today
Tap any word to see its Connections hint — what it means in today’s puzzle, no spoilers.
HUMPTY DUMPTY
HUMPTY DUMPTY Connections Hint
The egg-shaped nursery rhyme character whose name is a classic example of a rhyming compound — Humpty rhymes with Dumpty.
TOASTER
TOASTER Connections Hint
A classic practical wedding gift — the appliance that toasts bread, and a staple of the traditional gift registry.
PINK FLOYD
PINK FLOYD Connections Hint
The legendary British progressive rock band behind albums like The Dark Side of the Moon — not a person's name despite sounding like one.
MONEY
MONEY Connections Hint
Cash given as a wedding gift — a modern and very common alternative to physical presents.
The egg-shaped nursery rhyme character whose name is a classic example of a rhyming compound — Humpty rhymes with Dumpty.
KOOL-AID MAN
KOOL-AID MAN Connections Hint
The giant red pitcher mascot of the Kool-Aid drink brand, famous for bursting through walls — he is red from head to toe.
HELTER SKELTER
HELTER SKELTER Connections Hint
A spiral fairground slide in British English — and a rhyming compound where Helter rhymes with Skelter.
CHINA
CHINA Connections Hint
Fine porcelain dinnerware — a traditional wedding gift — not the country, even though the spelling is identical.
RUSH
RUSH Connections Hint
The Canadian progressive rock trio known for complex time signatures and albums like 2112 — not a feeling of adrenaline.
CHICK FLICK
CHICK FLICK Connections Hint
A slang term for a film aimed at women — and a rhyming compound where Chick rhymes with Flick.
DEADPOOL
DEADPOOL Connections Hint
Marvel's wisecracking antihero who wears a full red-and-black suit — his costume makes him visually one of comics' most recognisable red characters.
LUGGAGE
LUGGAGE Connections Hint
Suitcases given as a wedding gift — traditionally symbolising the couple's future travels together.
GENESIS
GENESIS Connections Hint
The British progressive rock band fronted first by Peter Gabriel and later Phil Collins — not the Bible book.
CLIFFORD
CLIFFORD Connections Hint
Clifford the Big Red Dog — the oversized crimson canine from the children's book and TV series.
MUMBO JUMBO
MUMBO JUMBO Connections Hint
Meaningless or unnecessarily complicated language — and a rhyming compound where Mumbo rhymes with Jumbo.
KING CRIMSON
KING CRIMSON Connections Hint
The British progressive rock band formed in 1968, pioneers of the genre — the word crimson is a colour, but the band is what matters here.
MR. KRABS
MR. KRABS Connections Hint
The red crustacean owner of the Krusty Krab in SpongeBob SquarePants — his entire body is bright red.
Today’s NYT Connections Hints for All Four Categories
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Yellow Connections Hint Today
Pioneering bands known for long, complex, ambitious tracks. Think: 1970s, concept albums, virtuosos
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Green Connections Hint Today
Things people traditionally give the happy couple. Think: registry, reception table, envelopes
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Blue Connections Hint Today
Famous fictional characters whose defining visual is red. Think: cartoons, comics, mascots
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Purple Connections Hint Today
Two-word phrases where both words rhyme with each other. Think: nursery rhyme, nonsense words
Traps & Misdirects Hints for Today’s Connections Puzzle
Today’s Connections puzzle includes words intentionally placed to misdirect you into wrong groups. These traps and misdirects hints reveal which words are designed to mislead, so you don’t burn your 4 allowed mistakes on deliberate decoys.
GENESIS is the first book of the Bible, RUSH is a surge of excitement, and PINK FLOYD sounds like a person's name — nothing obviously links them as a trio. But group them with KING CRIMSON and you have four legendary progressive rock bands from the 1970s. The trap is dismissing these as unrelated because their non-music meanings feel louder. All four belong together in one group.
CHINA looks like a country, MONEY looks like a category too broad to be useful, and TOASTER looks like a kitchen appliance — nothing screams 'wedding' about any of them individually. These are all traditional wedding gifts, and the puzzle is betting you'll try to fit CHINA into a geography group or MONEY into something financial. The wedding gift angle is the one that actually works.
KING CRIMSON contains the word CRIMSON — a shade of red — and MR. KRABS is literally a red crustacean, and DEADPOOL wears a red suit. It is very tempting to cluster these three as 'red things' and go hunting for a fourth. But only three of the four RED CHARACTERS words come from this surface read — and KING CRIMSON belongs somewhere else entirely.
Today’s NYT Connections Answers
Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained
PROG BANDS
GENESIS, KING CRIMSON, PINK FLOYD, and RUSH are all pioneering progressive rock bands — a genre known for long, technically complex compositions, concept albums, and classical influences, mostly flourishing in the 1970s.
- GENESIS
- British prog rock band formed in 1967, fronted first by Peter Gabriel and later Phil Collins — responsible for albums like Selling England by the Pound.
- KING CRIMSON
- British prog rock band formed in 1968 by Robert Fripp, widely credited with launching the genre with their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King.
- PINK FLOYD
- British band behind The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall — their name sounds like a person but is actually a combination of two blues musicians' first names, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
- RUSH
- Canadian trio — Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart — known for complex time signatures, science fiction themes, and albums like 2112 and Moving Pictures.
CLASSIC WEDDING GIFTS
CHINA, LUGGAGE, MONEY, and TOASTER are all traditional wedding gifts — items that appear on gift registries or are given by guests to help the couple set up their new life together.
- CHINA
- Fine porcelain dinnerware — a classic wedding gift representing the formal table settings a couple is expected to build as they start a household.
- LUGGAGE
- Suitcases given as a wedding gift, traditionally symbolising the couple's future travels and adventures together.
- MONEY
- Cash in a card or envelope — a very common modern wedding gift, practical and universally appreciated.
- TOASTER
- A kitchen appliance that became the archetypal practical wedding gift — so associated with weddings that it is almost a cliché of the gift registry.
RED CHARACTERS
CLIFFORD, DEADPOOL, KOOL-AID MAN, and MR. KRABS are all famous fictional characters whose most defining visual feature is the colour red — a giant red dog, a red-suited antihero, a red drink pitcher, and a red crab.
- CLIFFORD
- Clifford the Big Red Dog — the enormous crimson canine from Norman Bridwell's children's book series and the long-running animated TV show.
- DEADPOOL
- Marvel Comics' wisecracking antihero Wade Wilson, who wears a full red-and-black costume — the red is so dominant that it is his visual signature.
- KOOL-AID MAN
- The giant anthropomorphic red pitcher who is the mascot of the Kool-Aid drink brand, famous for bursting through walls and shouting 'Oh yeah!'
- MR. KRABS
- Eugene H. Krabs, the money-obsessed red crustacean who owns the Krusty Krab restaurant in the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants.
RHYMING COMPOUND WORDS
CHICK FLICK, HELTER SKELTER, HUMPTY DUMPTY, and MUMBO JUMBO are all compound words or phrases where the two parts rhyme with each other — a linguistic pattern called rhyming reduplication.
- CHICK FLICK
- A slang term for a film aimed at women — chick rhymes with flick, making it a rhyming compound.
- HELTER SKELTER
- Meaning chaotic or disorderly — helter rhymes with skelter. In British English it is also a type of spiral fairground slide.
- HUMPTY DUMPTY
- The egg-shaped character from the nursery rhyme who sat on a wall and had a great fall — humpty rhymes with dumpty.
- MUMBO JUMBO
- Meaning nonsensical or unnecessarily complicated language — mumbo rhymes with jumbo, following the same rhyming reduplication pattern.
What Makes Today’s NYT Connections Puzzle Tricky?
GENESIS, CHINA, RUSH, and MONEY sit in this grid alongside HUMPTY DUMPTY, CLIFFORD, and KOOL-AID MAN — a collision of Bible references, countries, currencies, cartoon dogs, and nursery rhymes that makes the first scan feel genuinely chaotic.
The editor is counting on you to reach for the most obvious meaning of every word — CHINA as a country, GENESIS as a Bible book, RUSH as a feeling of adrenaline — when the puzzle is using a completely different sense of each.
Two groups here are fairly accessible once you spot the theme, but the remaining two require you to set aside the loudest meaning of several words and think about what else they could be.
How to Use Connections Hints
Everyone playing NYT Connections puzzle gets stuck at a different point. Some players can’t figure out a single word. Others have three groups solved and can’t find the fourth. Where you are stuck determines which connection hint you need. So if you are stuck in today’s puzzle, find your situation in the sections below, use the recommended Connections hint, and continue solving. You don’t need to reveal more than what gets you past the point where you are stuck.
A word in the puzzle has an unfamiliar meaning
Some words in today’s NYT Connections puzzle are uncommon. Connections editor Wyna Liu often uses words with specific or less familiar meanings, particularly in the green, blue, and purple categories. If you don’t know what a word means, you cannot reliably place it in a group.
Use the Word Hint. It tells you what the word means in the context of today’s puzzle. Tap any word directly on the board above to see its hint. Each word opens a small card with its puzzle-specific connections hint.
No groups are forming after reading all sixteen words
The connection between words is often not obvious from their meanings alone — categories are built around themes that require a specific angle to see. These category-level clues are the most useful hints for connections that aren’t coming together from word meanings alone.
Use the Category Hint. It points you toward the theme of a category without revealing the category name or which words belong to it. In the All Hints section, tap “Yellow Category Hint” first. Read it before revealing anything else. Yellow is the easiest category by design.
You have a possible group but aren’t ready to guess
You think four words belong together but you’re not confident enough to guess. If you’re unsure, don’t guess yet — a wrong guess costs you one of your four mistakes.
Use the Category Name. It reveals the exact name of the category without showing you which words belong to it. If your group belongs to that category, guess with confidence. If it doesn’t, you’ve saved a mistake. In the All Hints section, tap “Yellow Category Name” — or whichever colour you are testing. The name appears immediately below the hint.
One word seems to fit more than one group
You have built a group of four words but one word in it could also fit somewhere else. NYT Connections editor Wyna Liu deliberately places misleading words on the board that seem to fit multiple categories. These are the most common source of wrong guesses in today’s connections puzzle.
Use the Traps and Misdirects Hints. It identifies the specific misleading words in today’s puzzle and explains why they don’t belong where you think they do. Go to the Traps and Misdirects section and look for the word that is bothering you.
You know the category but can’t find all four words
You have identified the theme of a category but can’t find all four words that belong to it.
Use the Word Reveal. It uncovers one masked word at a time without revealing the full group. This is the most precise connection hint available — it gives you exactly one word without touching the rest of the puzzle. In the All Hints section, find the colour category you have identified. Tap “Category Words” to open the reveal panel, then tap “Reveal word 1” — one word at a time until your group is complete.
One mistake left with two groups unsolved
You have one mistake remaining and two groups unsolved. If you guess wrong here, the game ends and NYT reveals all the answers automatically.
Do not guess yet. Use the Category Name for both remaining groups first. If the category names still don’t resolve it, use the Word Reveal to uncover one or two words causing the split. In the All Hints section, tap the Category Name for both remaining colours. If that is still not enough, tap “Category Words” and reveal one word at a time until the correct split is clear.
You want today’s answers without solving the puzzle
Use the Answers section. It shows all four category names and the four words that belong to each one. Go to the Answers section.
The puzzle is over but a category still doesn’t make sense
You can see the four groups and their words but the connection between them isn’t clear.
Use the Answer Explanation. It tells you exactly what connects the words in each category and why each individual word belongs there. This is particularly useful for the purple category, where the connection is almost never straightforward. Go to the Answer Explanation section.
