NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, June 12 (game #1097) | Tech Radar

Overview

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets

Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more

Details

Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards.

Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.

NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, June 12 (game #1097)

My clues will help you solve the NYT's Connections puzzle today and keep that streak going

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, June 11 (game #1096).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1097) - today's words

NYT Connections today (game #1097) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, June 11 (game #1096)

NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, June 5 (game #1090)

NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, June 10 (game #1095)

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1097) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1097) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1097, are…

NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, June 9 (game #1094)

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, June 6 (game #1091)

NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, June 8 (game #1093)

YELLOW: STARTING WITH INCANTATIONS CHARM BRACELET, CURSE WORD, HEX KEY, SPELL CHECKER

GREEN: STARTING WITH ANIMAL GROUP NAMES MURDER MYSTERY, PACK RAT, PRIDE ROCK, SCHOOL DAYS

BLUE: STARTING WITH SYNONYMS FOR "REPEAT" COPY EDITOR, ECHO PARK, MIRROR SELFIE, QUOTE UNQUOTE

PURPLE: STARTING WITH PARTS OF A RIVER BANK TELLER, BED HEAD, DELTA AIRLINES, MOUTH GUARD

A “starting with…” special that made the second words in every single tile irrelevant — meaning that the Connections setters just made all of these tiles two words just to play with our brains. Thanks.

Realizing this trick did make this game easier, but I still got caught out trying to put my groups of four together.

STARTING WITH INCANTATIONS and STARTING WITH ANIMAL GROUP NAMES I got easily enough; MURDER MYSTERY was the giveaway for the latter. However, I fell to pieces after that and was lucky to escape with a victory.

At first, my remaining eight tiles conjured up an alternative phonetic alphabet that grouped DELTA AIRLINES, ECHO PARK, MIRROR SELFIE, and QUOTE UNQUOTE; after getting a lucky one away, I finally grasped STARTING WITH SYNONYMS FOR “REPEAT”.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, June 11, game #1096)

YELLOW: PARTS OF A WORKOUT ROUTINE BALANCE, CARDIO, STRETCHING, WEIGHTS

GREEN: THINGS WITH HORNS BRASS BAND, DEVIL, RHINO, VIKING HELMET

BLUE: HOMOPHONES OF SUVS BRONCHO, FORERUNNER, TROUPER, UCONN

PURPLE: PAYMENT APPS MINUS A LETTER ELLE, PAPAL, STRIP, VENO

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the i Phone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

1 Quote of the day by Mark Zuckerberg: 'Metaverse isn't a thing a company builds. It's the next chapter of the internet overall' — a prediction that hit wide of the mark

2MSI’s special edition Titan 18HX gaming laptop is incredibly over the top — and I’m obsessed

3AI has finally reached The Rock and 'after taking a hard look at it,' he's got an 'extraordinary f-ing workout' and might be rethinking his Presidential aspirations

4 The great AI Irony: China cracks down on Western models while US companies flock to Deep Seek

5 How to watch South Korea vs Czechia: Free Streams & TV Channels online from anywhere for FIFA World Cup 2026

Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Key Takeaways

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards