NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues -
NYT Connections #1111 Tip
Four words here are secretly colors wearing an extra letter.
What Makes NYT Connections #1111 Tricky?
TANG, DALE, BRONZER, and HOLLOW pull in completely different directions — a drink powder, a name, a cosmetic, and an adjective — yet they share a grid with CHIP, LOG, and GORGE, which feel like they belong to entirely different conversations.
The editor's trick is that one category works by adding a single letter to a color name, so words that look like brand names, verbs, or common nouns are actually hiding a color inside them.
Friday difficulty — one group is a quick solve, one requires knowing some obscure geography vocabulary, and the color-plus-letter group will stump most players until the penny drops.
Connections Hints for Every Word in the June 26, 2026 Puzzle
TANG
Connections hint for TANG
A powdered orange drink — but here, think of a color name hiding inside this word with one letter attached.
CHIP
Connections hint for CHIP
A thin crunchy fried or baked snack — potato chip, tortilla chip — this is the straightforward snack meaning.
BOARD
Connections hint for BOARD
A flat plank of wood — one of several words in this puzzle describing a quantity or form of timber.
PINKY
Connections hint for PINKY
The little finger — but look closer and a color name is sitting right inside this word with one extra letter.
DALE
Connections hint for DALE
A broad open valley — a genuine geographical term for low ground, and also a Disney chipmunk, but neither of those is the trap to worry about.
REDO
Connections hint for REDO
To do something again — but strip one letter and a color name appears, which is what this puzzle is actually using it for.
SPLINTER
Connections hint for SPLINTER
A thin sharp fragment broken off a larger piece of wood — the smallest amount of wood in this puzzle's wood-quantity group.
NUT
Connections hint for NUT
A hard-shelled crunchy snack — almonds, cashews, peanuts — the edible kind you find in a snack bowl.
HOLLOW
Connections hint for HOLLOW
A shallow depression or low-lying area in the ground — a genuine landform term meaning a small valley or basin.
TREE
Connections hint for TREE
A large woody plant — and in this puzzle, the largest single amount of wood you could have.
GORGE
Connections hint for GORGE
A narrow steep-sided valley carved by a river — a genuine landform term for a dramatic low-ground feature.
BRONZER
Connections hint for BRONZER
A cosmetic powder used to add a warm tan color to skin — but a color name is hiding inside this word with one letter added.
CRACKER
Connections hint for CRACKER
A thin crisp baked snack, like a saltine or a water cracker — the baked-not-fried member of the crunchy snack group.
DELL
Connections hint for DELL
A small secluded wooded valley — an old-fashioned word for a sheltered low-ground area, as in the farmer in the dell.
LOG
Connections hint for LOG
A section of a felled tree trunk — more wood than a splinter or a board, less than a whole tree.
PRETZEL
Connections hint for PRETZEL
A baked or fried dough snack twisted into a knot shape — hard pretzels are the crunchy variety this puzzle means.
Traps & Misdirects Hints for NYT Connections Puzzle (#1111)
CHIP, DALE, and SPLINTER are all names of famous fictional characters — the two chipmunks from Disney and the Ninja Turtles' rat sensei — and grouping them as cartoon characters feels very satisfying. That connection is a dead end. Each of these three belongs to a completely different category in this puzzle.
All four of these words can describe a low-lying or valley-like landform, which makes the group feel obvious — but only three of them are in the low-ground category. One of these four words is hiding a color inside it and belongs to the wordplay group instead. Do not lock in all four without checking each one letter by letter.
NUT, LOG, and BOARD all feel like they could describe types or pieces of wood — a wooden board, a log of timber, a nut from a tree. That woodsy association is tempting but only partially correct. These three words belong to different groups, and at least one of them is being used in a sense that has nothing to do with wood.
TANG is a famously orange-colored drink powder and BRONZER is a cosmetic product — both have strong color associations that make them feel like they belong in a colors category on their own terms. The puzzle is not grouping them by color association. Both words contain a color with a letter added, which is a different and more specific trick.
Connections Hints for June 26, 2026
Yellow Connections Hints
Yellow Category Hint
Salty, crunchy things you eat straight from a bag
Think: Think: party bowl, movie snacks
Yellow Category Name
CRUNCHY SNACK ITEM
Yellow Category Words
Reveal word 1
CHIPReveal word 2
CRACKERReveal word 3
NUTReveal word 4
PRETZELGreen Connections Hints
Green Category Hint
Different forms of wood, from a sliver to a whole plant
Think: Think: smallest to largest piece
Green Category Name
VARIOUS AMOUNTS OF WOOD
Green Category Words
Reveal word 1
BOARDReveal word 2
LOGReveal word 3
SPLINTERReveal word 4
TREEBlue Connections Hints
Blue Category Hint
Old-fashioned words for valleys and depressions in the land
Think: Think: topography, low terrain
Blue Category Name
AREAS OF LOW GROUND
Blue Category Words
Reveal word 1
DALEReveal word 2
DELLReveal word 3
GORGEReveal word 4
HOLLOWPurple Connections Hints
Purple Category Hint
Each word is a color name with exactly one letter added
Think: Think: hide and seek inside the word
Purple Category Name
COLORS PLUS A LETTER
Purple Category Words
Reveal word 1
BRONZERReveal word 2
PINKYReveal word 3
REDOReveal word 4
TANGNYT Connections Answers for June 26, 2026
NYT Connections Answers Explained: June 26, 2026
CRUNCHY SNACK ITEM
CHIP, CRACKER, NUT, and PRETZEL are all familiar crunchy snack foods — the kind you find in a party bowl or a vending machine, eaten by the handful.
- CHIP
- A thin crispy slice of fried or baked potato or corn — the quintessential crunchy snack.
- CRACKER
- A thin flat baked snack made from flour — saltines and water crackers are the classic crunchy examples.
- NUT
- A hard-shelled edible seed — almonds, cashews, peanuts — crunchy by nature and a staple snack food.
- PRETZEL
- A baked dough snack twisted into a knot shape — the hard crunchy variety is the snack-bowl version this puzzle means.
VARIOUS AMOUNTS OF WOOD
BOARD, LOG, SPLINTER, and TREE represent four very different quantities of wood — from a tiny sharp fragment all the way up to the whole living plant.
- BOARD
- A flat sawn plank of timber — a processed piece of wood, more than a splinter but less than a log.
- LOG
- A section cut from a felled tree trunk — a large chunk of raw wood, more than a board but less than a whole tree.
- SPLINTER
- A tiny sharp sliver broken off a larger piece of wood — the smallest amount of wood in this group.
- TREE
- The entire living woody plant — the maximum possible amount of wood, before any cutting or processing.
AREAS OF LOW GROUND
DALE, DELL, GORGE, and HOLLOW are all words for low-lying areas or depressions in the landscape — mostly old or poetic terms for valleys and sheltered ground.
- DALE
- A broad open valley, especially in northern England — a gentle low-ground term used in place names like Airedale.
- DELL
- A small secluded wooded hollow or valley — an old-fashioned poetic word, best known from the nursery rhyme 'the farmer in the dell.'
- GORGE
- A narrow steep-sided valley carved by a river — a dramatic low-ground feature with near-vertical walls.
- HOLLOW
- A shallow natural depression or small valley in the ground — a gentle dip in the landscape, less dramatic than a gorge.
COLORS PLUS A LETTER
BRONZER, PINKY, REDO, and TANG are each a color name with exactly one letter added — BRONZE+R, PINK+Y, RED+O, and TAN+G — disguised as completely unrelated everyday words.
- BRONZER
- Remove the final R and you get BRONZE — a warm brownish-gold color. BRONZER looks like a cosmetic product, which is the disguise.
- PINKY
- Remove the final Y and you get PINK. PINKY looks like the name for your little finger or a cartoon character, which is the disguise.
- REDO
- Remove the final O and you get RED. REDO looks like a verb meaning to do something again, which is the disguise.
- TANG
- Remove the final G and you get TAN — a light brownish-yellow color. TANG looks like a brand-name drink powder, which is the disguise.
