Each day’s game of NYT Connections goes live at midnight local time. Before today’s NYT Connections hints, here’s what you missed on Monday:
Hey there, Connectors! I hope your week is off to a great start.
I had a decent weekend, thanks for asking. I took my partner out for dinner since we hadn’t really had a date night in a while. We went to a steakhouse that’s part of a chain. It was pretty good, but we’ve definitely had better steak dinners elsewhere.
I’m also delighted that my building’s pool is finally open. I haven’t had a chance to go in yet, thanks to thunderstorms over the weekend and it not quite being warm enough. But the forecast for today is looking positive, so I’m hoping to jump in as soon as I’m done with work for the day.
Before we start, I want to highlight the rad community we have on Discord, where we chat about Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. It’s a lovely group of folks. You’re more than welcome to join us.
Also, my weekend editions of this column are available over on my newsletter, Pastimes. If you enjoy the intros and recommendations in my Connections columns, I publish longer pieces along similar lines on Pastimes as well. I think you’d dig them.
Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, June 2 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!
NYT Connections – How To Play
Connections is a free New York Times daily word game that you can play on the NYT’s website or Games app. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive, which includes every previous game.
Connections presents you with a grid of 16 words (sometimes phrases, symbols or numbers). The aim is to arrange them into four groups of four. You don’t know how they hit together or what the category for each group is: that’s what you have to figure out.
There’s only one correct solution and there are often red herrings. You can guess incorrectly three times. A fourth wrong guess, and it’s game over.
Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to deduce, followed by blue, green and purple. Often, the yellow and green groups have synonyms, the blues have cultural references and the purples have some kind of wordplay involved. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Be ready for curveballs – part of the fun of Connections is in how the NYT shakes things up to keep you on your toes.
As with Wordle and similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends using an emoji-based grid. The game tracks your progress too.
Many players take pride in having long win streaks or getting a reverse rainbow – correctly guessing the purple, blue, green and yellow groups in that order with no mistakes. That adds an extra little challenge.
Today’s NYT Connections Word List
Scroll slowly! I’ll first give you a list of today’s words, then a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll tell you the category names, followed by the full answers.
Today’s 16 words are…
- TIN CAN
- JACKET POTATO
- COAT OF ARMS
- MASH
- CLOAK-AND-DAGGER
- CREST
- CHIPS
- CAPE MAY
- HELMET
- TOP SECRET
- FREE WILL
- HUSH-HUSH
- BUBBLE AND SQUEAK
- GRAPE MUST
- COVERT
- SHIELD
Today’s NYT Connections Hints
And the hints for today’s Connections groups are:
- 🟩 Green group — tubular tea-time tuber options
- 🟦 Blue group — signs of a good knight
- 🟪 Purple group — look forward to the future… maybe
NYT Connections – One Answer Per Group
Need some extra help?
Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.
Let’s take a look at one answer for each group.
Here we go…
- 🟨 Yellow group — COVERT
- 🟩 Green group — CHIPS
- 🟦 Blue group — CREST
- 🟪 Purple group — TIN CAN
Today’s NYT Connections Categories
Today’s Connections groups are…
- 🟨 Yellow group — clandestine
- 🟩 Green group — British potato dishes
- 🟦 Blue group — heraldic achievements
- 🟪 Purple group — ending in modal auxiliary terms
Today’s NYT 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 last chance to look away.
This is your final warning!
Today’s Connections answers are…
This was one of those games that I was able to figure out in seconds. A lovely balm for my delicate brain.
Having a potato-related group with JACKET POTATO as one of the terms is a bit on the nose. Still, I got the greens first.
CLOAK-AND-DAGGER made the yellows clear to me immediately as I was writing out the word list. After submitting that, I pretty much figured out the purples and blues simultaneously.
That’s win number 457 on the trot for me, and I got there with a perfect game today.
How did you get on this time? Here’s my grid:
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦
Want to know more about how everything fits together? Let’s explore today’s game in more depth in my NYT Connections Answers Explained column right here:
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 Wednesday’s game if you need them.
P.S. It’s been like five minutes since I mentioned my favorite band. I realized I haven’t recommended this song from them yet, so here we are.
I think if I’m going to get my partner’s kid into Electric Callboy (she already enjoys rock music thanks to her dad), I have two starting points: “Ratatata,” which features Babymetal, and the breakdown of “Tekkno Train.” I’m not afraid to admit that I sometimes listen to a minute-long supercut of said breakdown, just so I can do the “choo choo choo” bit over and over. Thie song is headbangingly heavy, danceable, catchy, silly and just plain fun. It’s Electric Callboy in a nutshell:
Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!
Please follow my blog for more NYT Connections hints and help with 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 newsletter, Pastimes.
