NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues -
NYT Connections #1112 Tip
One category is hiding inside the endings of four innocent-looking words.
What Makes NYT Connections #1112 Tricky?
CATWALK, CROSSWALK, BOARDWALK, and FIREWALK all end the same way, FOXTROT sounds like a dance, and BARBER POLE, CREDIT CARD, and ENVELOPE look like they wandered in from completely different worlds.
The editor has loaded the grid with words ending in WALK to make you think that suffix is the key — it is not, and chasing it will cost you mistakes.
Saturday difficulty: one group is a clean Monopoly recall, one group is a fashion vocabulary check, but the striped-things group requires lateral thinking and the hidden-horse-gaits group is genuinely devious.
Connections Hints for Every Word in the June 27, 2026 Puzzle
CATWALK
Connections hint for CATWALK
The raised runway models walk down at a fashion show — not grouped here with other WALK words despite the obvious temptation.
FOXTROT
Connections hint for FOXTROT
A smooth ballroom dance — but here the puzzle cares about the last four letters, not the dance itself.
CREDIT CARD
Connections hint for CREDIT CARD
The rectangular plastic in your wallet — look at it: it has a stripe on the back.
COLLECTION
Connections hint for COLLECTION
A designer's seasonal line of clothing — the full set of pieces shown at a fashion show.
BOARDWALK
Connections hint for BOARDWALK
The famous dark-blue property on the Monopoly board — the most expensive square in the game.
DESIGNER
Connections hint for DESIGNER
The person whose name is on the label and whose vision drives a fashion show.
ENVELOPE
Connections hint for ENVELOPE
The paper sleeve you seal a letter inside — its last four letters spell a horse's movement.
CROSSWALK
Connections hint for CROSSWALK
The striped pedestrian crossing painted on a road — grouped here for what it looks like, not for WALK.
FIREWALK
Connections hint for FIREWALK
The act of walking barefoot over hot coals — grouped here for what its final letters spell, not for WALK.
INCOME TAX
Connections hint for INCOME TAX
The Monopoly square that costs you either $200 or 10% of your total assets — a painful early-game landing.
BILLIARD BALL
Connections hint for BILLIARD BALL
The numbered spheres used in pool — each one has a distinctive coloured stripe or solid band.
MODEL
Connections hint for MODEL
The person who wears the clothes and walks the catwalk at a fashion show.
SHORT LINE
Connections hint for SHORT LINE
A Monopoly railroad square — one of the four railroad properties on the board.
DECANTER
Connections hint for DECANTER
A glass vessel used to aerate and serve wine — its last four letters spell a horse's gait.
WATER WORKS
Connections hint for WATER WORKS
The Monopoly utility square — one of only two utilities on the board, alongside Electric Company.
BARBER POLE
Connections hint for BARBER POLE
The red-and-white spiralling striped pole outside a barbershop — one of the most iconic stripe patterns around.
Traps & Misdirects Hints for NYT Connections Puzzle (#1112)
Four words ending in WALK sitting in the same grid is almost impossible to ignore — your brain wants to group them immediately. That grouping is wrong. These four words belong to four different categories, and the shared suffix is the puzzle's primary misdirect.
Even if you suspect FIREWALK is the odd one out, the remaining three WALK words still feel like a natural trio waiting for a fourth — so you go hunting for another WALK. Stop. CATWALK, BOARDWALK, and CROSSWALK each belong to a different group, and none of those groups is defined by the word WALK.
FOXTROT is a ballroom dance and CATWALK is how models move down a runway — pairing them as performance or movement words feels natural. That connection is a dead end. Neither word is here for its dance or movement meaning; each belongs to a completely different category.
These four look like they have nothing in common — a glass vessel, a paper sleeve, a firepit stunt, a dance — so most players skip past them and never look at their endings. Read the last few letters of each word carefully: the thing they share is buried at the back, not the front.
Connections Hints for June 27, 2026
Yellow Connections Hints
Yellow Category Hint
Named squares you can land on in a classic board game
Think: Think: dice, Go, railroads
Yellow Category Name
MONOPOLY SQUARES
Yellow Category Words
Reveal word 1
BOARDWALKReveal word 2
INCOME TAXReveal word 3
SHORT LINEReveal word 4
WATER WORKSGreen Connections Hints
Green Category Hint
Four things you would find at a runway event
Think: Think: fashion week essentials
Green Category Name
COMPONENTS OF A FASHION SHOW
Green Category Words
Reveal word 1
CATWALKReveal word 2
COLLECTIONReveal word 3
DESIGNERReveal word 4
MODELBlue Connections Hints
Blue Category Hint
Everyday objects or places known for having stripes
Think: Think: what has visible bands or lines
Blue Category Name
COMMONLY STRIPED THINGS
Blue Category Words
Reveal word 1
BARBER POLEReveal word 2
BILLIARD BALLReveal word 3
CREDIT CARDReveal word 4
CROSSWALKPurple Connections Hints
Purple Category Hint
Words whose final letters spell how a horse moves
Think: Think: trot, canter, lope
Purple Category Name
ENDING IN HORSE GAITS
Purple Category Words
Reveal word 1
DECANTERReveal word 2
ENVELOPEReveal word 3
FIREWALKReveal word 4
FOXTROTNYT Connections Answers for June 27, 2026
NYT Connections Answers Explained: June 27, 2026
MONOPOLY SQUARES
BOARDWALK, INCOME TAX, SHORT LINE, and WATER WORKS are all named squares on a standard Monopoly board — each one a specific place you can land during the game.
- BOARDWALK
- The most expensive property on the Monopoly board, dark blue, sitting at the far end of the board just before Go.
- INCOME TAX
- A penalty square near the start of the board that charges the player $200 or 10% of their total worth.
- SHORT LINE
- One of the four railroad properties on the Monopoly board — railroads can be bought and charge rent when opponents land on them.
- WATER WORKS
- One of the two utility squares on the Monopoly board — landing on it when someone owns it means paying rent based on a dice roll.
COMPONENTS OF A FASHION SHOW
CATWALK, COLLECTION, DESIGNER, and MODEL are all essential components of a fashion show — the venue feature, the clothes, the creative mind, and the person wearing them.
- CATWALK
- The long raised platform that models walk down during a fashion show — the physical centrepiece of the event.
- COLLECTION
- The full set of clothing pieces a designer presents each season — the show exists to reveal the collection.
- DESIGNER
- The fashion designer whose creative vision the show is built around — their name is on every label.
- MODEL
- The person hired to wear the clothes and walk the catwalk, presenting each piece to the audience.
COMMONLY STRIPED THINGS
BARBER POLE, BILLIARD BALL, CREDIT CARD, and CROSSWALK are all things commonly associated with stripes — a spiralling pole, banded spheres, a magnetic stripe, and painted road lines.
- BARBER POLE
- The iconic red-and-white (sometimes red, white, and blue) spiralling striped pole displayed outside barbershops.
- BILLIARD BALL
- Pool balls are either solid-coloured or striped — the striped set is literally called the stripes in the game.
- CREDIT CARD
- A credit card has a magnetic stripe running across the back — the stripe is how the card stores and transmits data.
- CROSSWALK
- A pedestrian crossing is painted as a series of parallel white stripes on the road — the stripe pattern is its defining visual feature.
ENDING IN HORSE GAITS
DECANTER, ENVELOPE, FIREWALK, and FOXTROT each end in a word that names a horse's gait — CANTER, LOPE, WALK, and TROT — hidden inside longer everyday words.
- DECANTER
- A glass vessel for serving wine — its final six letters spell CANTER, the medium-speed three-beat gait of a horse.
- ENVELOPE
- The paper sleeve used to mail a letter — its final four letters spell LOPE, a relaxed easy gallop used to describe a horse's stride.
- FIREWALK
- The practice of walking barefoot over hot coals — its final four letters spell WALK, the slowest of the horse gaits.
- FOXTROT
- A ballroom dance with smooth gliding steps — its final four letters spell TROT, the two-beat diagonal gait of a horse.
