The New York Times continues to entertain word puzzle fans with its daily game Connections, where players must identify hidden relationships between 16 seemingly unrelated words. Puzzle #1111 for June 26, 2026 serves up a fun mix of crunchy snacks, different forms of wood, low-lying landscapes and a clever Purple category that plays with colour names by removing their first letter. While some groupings are easy to recognise, others require careful observation and a knack for wordplay. If today's puzzle has you scratching your head, here are some spoiler-free hints, the complete answers and a quick guide to how Connections works.What is NYT's 'Connections' game?Connections is a daily word puzzle from The New York Times that asks players to organise 16 words into four groups of four. Each group shares a hidden connection, which may involve categories, meanings, phrases, themes, wordplay or homophones.The puzzle uses four colour-coded difficulty levels:Yellow: Usually the easiest categoryGreen: Moderate difficultyBlue: Often requires a less obvious connectionPurple: Typically the most challenging and wordplay-heavy categoryPlayers have a limited number of mistakes before the game ends, making strategy and observation essential.NYT Connections hints for todayYellow: Perfect companions for a quick snack break.Green: Think of wood in different forms, from whole to tiny.Blue: Places where the land dips below the surrounding terrain.Purple: Remove the first letter from a colour name to reveal another word.NYT Connections answers for June 26, 2026Here are the correct groupings for today's puzzle:Yellow – CRUNCHY SNACK ITEMS:CHIP, CRACKER, NUT, PRETZELGreen – VARIOUS AMOUNTS OF WOOD:BOARD, LOG, SPLINTER, TREEBlue – AREAS OF LOW GROUND:DALE, DELL, GORGE, VALLEYPurple – COLOUR NAMES MINUS THE FIRST LETTER:AMBER → EMBER, GREEN → REEN, INDIGO → NDIGO, VIOLET → IOLETHow to play NYT ConnectionsThe puzzle presents 16 words arranged in a grid, and your goal is to organise them into four groups of four words that share a hidden connection. A new Connections puzzle is released daily through The New York Times Games website and mobile app.Players should start by looking for the most obvious relationships between words. Solving one category often makes the remaining connections easier to spot. Once you identify four words that belong together, select them and submit your answer. Correct groups are automatically locked into place.Because only a limited number of incorrect guesses are allowed, it often helps to solve the easier Yellow and Green categories before tackling the more challenging Blue and Purple groups.Other NYT games to exploreIf you enjoy Connections, The New York Times also offers several other popular daily puzzle games:Wordle: Guess a five-letter word in six attemptsSpelling Bee: Create as many words as possible using a specific set of lettersThe Mini Crossword: A short daily crossword challengeStrands: A word-search-inspired puzzle built around hidden themesTogether, these games have become a daily ritual for millions of puzzle enthusiasts looking to test their vocabulary, logic and pattern-recognition skills.