Need a cheat code for today’s puzzle. You found it.
This isn’t your average Monday brain teaser. There’s a purple category that will make you want to throw your phone across the room. It involves messing with word structure in a way that feels almost dishonest. Or maybe that’s just the game talking.
If you are already deep into the ecosystem. Good for you. The Times has that Connections bot. It gives you a score. It analyzes your failures. If you log in you can track stats like a sports analyst tracking quarterback sacks. Win rate. Perfect scores. Win streaks.
Nerding out is the new normal.
Want to win? Here is how today’s puzzle breaks down.
Hints for June 26
They hand the hints out by color. Easy to hard. Yellow first. Purple last. That order exists for a reason.
- Yellow: Yum!
- Green: Think trees.
- Blue: Not high up.
- Purple: Rainbow elements, but with a twist? No.
Wait. Don’t look for the colors themselves. Look at the words containing them. Or words that sound like colors if you add a letter. That’s the trick. That’s why your brain short-circuited.
The Answers
Here is what went down in the boxes today.
Yellow group : Crunchy snacks.
– Chip
– Cracker
– Nut
– Pretzel
Basic stuff. Bread and butter. If you missed this you have bigger problems.
Green group : Amounts of wood.
– Board
– Log
– Splinter
– Tree
Not hard. Unless you hate nature.
Blue group : Low ground areas.
– Dale
– Dell
– Gorge
– Hollow
Depressed terrain. Literally.
Purple group : Colors plus a letter.
– Bronzer
– Pinky
– Redo
– Tang
This is where you broke. Bronzer isn’t just a cosmetic. It hides brown. Pinky holds pink. Redo is red with a do? No. Just look at the root words. Tang is orange. Redo has red. The rest follows. It’s lazy. And brilliant.
The Hall of Pain
Thinking today was tough? You haven’t lived until you see these. We kept a list of the worst offenders. Patterns exist if you squint hard enough.
- Mood
- Record
- Table
- Volleyball
- Egg
- Juror
- Month
- Rose
- Elm
- Fear
- Jump
- Sesame
- Nap
- Plant
- Ranger
- Trip
- Candidate
- Faucet
- Mascara
- Nose
Maybe next time will be easier. Maybe it won’t. The puzzle resets tomorrow. We are all doomed again. 📉
