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NYT Connections · #1115

NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1115) — June 30, 2026

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Earlier Jun 29 This puzzle Jun 30 Later Jul 1

“Start with the group that feels most physical and concrete — once those four are locked in, the remaining words will sort themselves more cleanly.”

NYT Connections hints for June 30, 2026

Three levels of help — a definition for every word, colour-coded group nudges, and a heads-up on the traps. Skip to all answers →

1

Word clues

A spoiler-free definition for every word in the grid. Tap the eye on any card to reveal which colour-group it belongs to.

1 BOTTLEGlass or plastic — either way, it goes in the recycling, not the bin.
2 BOXCardboard after the delivery arrives — flatten it first.
3 BREEZEA draft of air — the light, cool kind that slips under a door.
4 CANThe aluminium kind — not the modal verb, not the toilet, just the tin you rinse out.
5 CURLNot a bicep exercise or a hairstyle — the sport where teams slide stones toward a target on ice.
6 FENCEA classic boundary marker — and a tempting fake-out for anyone thinking of ski courses.
7 GATEAn opening in a fence or wall — not the slalom poles skiers weave through.
8 HEDGEA living wall of shrubs — not the financial manoeuvre, just the garden boundary.
9 LUGEThe Winter Olympics event where athletes race downhill lying flat on a small sled.
10 NEWSPAPERThe most old-fashioned recyclable here — paper, not digital.
11 ON TAPDraft beer is beer on tap — the phrase and the adjective mean the same thing.
12 RECRUITTo draft someone is to recruit them — especially into military service.
13 SKATETo glide on ice — the verb behind figure skating and speed skating alike.
14 SKETCHA first draft is a rough sketch — the earliest, unpolished version of something.
15 SKIThe most obvious Winter Olympics verb — sliding downhill on two long boards.
16 WALLThe most solid divider of the four — no ambiguity here.
2

Group hints

Four colour-coded groups, easiest → hardest. Every button reveals the hint, the category name, or a single word — tap only what you need.

See Hint These mark where your property ends and your neighbour's begins.
See Group DIVIDING STRUCTURES
See WordFENCE
See WordGATE
See WordHEDGE
See WordWALL
See Hint Pack your thermals — these happen on snow or ice.
See Group PARTICIPATE IN SOME WINTER OLYMPICS
See WordCURL
See WordLUGE
See WordSKATE
See WordSKI
See Hint These go in the bin with the blue lid.
See Group COMMON RECYCLABLES
See WordBOTTLE
See WordBOX
See WordCAN
See WordNEWSPAPER
See Hint One small word does a lot of work across very different situations.
See Group WHAT "DRAFT" MIGHT REFER TO
See WordBREEZE
See WordON TAP
See WordRECRUIT
See WordSKETCH
3

Words the puzzle wants you to mis-group

Read these before you guess — they're the words most likely to break a streak. Tap for the trap.

1 GATE Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably picturing a slalom course, where gates are the poles skiers weave through — but the puzzle is using it as a physical structure, not a sporting term.
2 BREEZE Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably reading it as simple weather — a light wind — but the puzzle is using it as a synonym for a different kind of air movement, one tied to a single connecting word.
3 CURL Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of hair styling or a gym exercise, but the puzzle is using it as a sport you do on ice.
4 ON TAP Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably picturing a pub keg — that's the bait — but the puzzle is using it in a sense that has nothing to do with how the drink is served.
5 HEDGE Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of hedging your bets or a financial fund — but here it's being used in its most literal, physical sense.

NYT Connections answers for June 30, 2026

All four groups revealed, easiest first. Each card holds the theme, the four words, and why the group works.

Y DIVIDING STRUCTURES · Yellow · easiest
  • FENCE
  • GATE
  • HEDGE
  • WALL

FENCE, GATE, HEDGE and WALL are all structures used to divide or enclose space. GATE is the sneakiest — most solvers associate it with ski slalom courses before the boundary-structure meaning clicks.

G PARTICIPATE IN SOME WINTER OLYMPICS · Green · easy
  • CURL
  • LUGE
  • SKATE
  • SKI

CURL, LUGE, SKATE and SKI are all things you do as Winter Olympic sports. CURL is the trickiest — most solvers think of hair or gym exercises before landing on the ice sport involving brooms and stones.

B COMMON RECYCLABLES · Blue · medium
  • BOTTLE
  • BOX
  • CAN
  • NEWSPAPER

BOTTLE, BOX, CAN and NEWSPAPER are all items commonly placed in recycling. CAN is the most versatile word on the grid — it has appeared in Connections as slang, a modal verb, and a food preservation method — but today it's simply the aluminium kind.

P WHAT "DRAFT" MIGHT REFER TO · Purple · hardest
  • BREEZE
  • ON TAP
  • RECRUIT
  • SKETCH

BREEZE, ON TAP, RECRUIT and SKETCH are all things the word DRAFT can mean. BREEZE is the hardest leap — a draft of air is a light, cool breeze — while ON TAP captures draft beer, RECRUIT captures the military draft, and SKETCH captures a first draft of a drawing.

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