NYT Connections Hints & Answers (June 27)

Today's Puzzle Words & Clues

Which word from today's puzzle confuses you?

Word	Meaning	Word	Meaning
BARBER POLE	The spinning red-and-white (sometimes blue) helix outside a barbershop — a classic striped icon.	BILLIARD BALL	The solid balls are plain, but the striped ones — numbered 9 through 15 — are half the set.
BOARDWALK	The dark-blue crown jewel of the Monopoly board — most expensive property in the game.	CATWALK	The long raised runway models walk down — its -WALK ending is a deliberate misdirect.
COLLECTION	The seasonal lineup of garments a designer presents — the whole point of the show.	CREDIT CARD	The magnetic stripe on the back is the defining stripe here, not a decorative one.
CROSSWALK	Those alternating white painted bands across the road are literal stripes — don't let the -WALK ending fool you.	DECANTER	A glass vessel for wine — but it ends in CANTER, the smooth three-beat horse gait.
DESIGNER	The creative force behind the collection — often takes a bow at the end.	ENVELOPE	A paper sleeve for a letter — ends in LOPE, the long easy stride of a horse.
FIREWALK	The act of crossing hot coals — ends in WALK, the slowest of the four horse gaits.	FOXTROT	A ballroom dance — and it ends in TROT, the two-beat diagonal horse gait. Don't let the dance meaning send you the wrong way.
INCOME TAX	A Monopoly square that costs you $200 or 10% of your assets — neither option feels good.	MODEL	The person wearing the clothes down the runway — not a scale replica or a template here.
SHORT LINE	One of the four railroads on the Monopoly board, tucked on the fourth side near Go.	WATER WORKS	The utility square paired with Electric Company — less coveted than the railroads.

Tricky words to watch

Decoys the NYT plants to throw you off. Tap one to see why it bites.

Decoy CATWALK

You're probably grouping it with BOARDWALK as a type of walk — but here the puzzle uses it in a fashion context, not as a walkway.

Decoy FIREWALK

You're probably reading it as the hot-coals ritual and grouping it with the other -WALK words, but the puzzle is not interested in what a firewalk is — it's interested in the last four letters of the word.

Decoy CROSSWALK

You're probably tempted to group it with the other -WALK words, but the puzzle is using it for a visual property it shares with some very different objects.

Decoy DECANTER

You're probably picturing a wine vessel on a dinner table, but the puzzle is interested in the last few letters, not its function.

Decoy FOXTROT

You're probably reading it as a ballroom dance — that is the obvious trap — but the puzzle is not grouping dances today.

Group Hints & Reveal Assistant

Reveal exactly what you need — a hint, the group name, or a single word.

See hint

Pass Go, collect $200, and land on one of these.

See group

MONOPOLY SQUARES

See word

BOARDWALK

See word

INCOME TAX

See word

SHORT LINE

See word

WATER WORKS

See hint

What you'd find backstage and front-of-house at a major style event.

See group

COMPONENTS OF A FASHION SHOW

See word

CATWALK

See word

COLLECTION

See word

DESIGNER

See word

MODEL

See hint

Each one is known for its distinctive bands of colour or pattern.

See group

COMMONLY STRIPED THINGS

See word

BARBER POLE

See word

BILLIARD BALL

See word

CREDIT CARD

See word

CROSSWALK

See hint

A stable hand would recognise what's buried at the end of each word.

See group

ENDING IN HORSE GAITS

See word

DECANTER

See word

ENVELOPE

See word

FIREWALK

See word

FOXTROT

What are today's Connections answers?

Full spoilers — all four groups revealed.

Yellow group answers

The Yellow Connections group today is MONOPOLY SQUARES. The yellow group words are BOARDWALK, INCOME TAX, SHORT LINE, WATER WORKS. BOARDWALK, INCOME TAX, SHORT LINE and WATER WORKS are all named squares on the Monopoly board. BOARDWALK is the most expensive property in the game — landing on an opponent's hotel there is the stuff of family-game-night nightmares.

Green group answers

The Green Connections group today is COMPONENTS OF A FASHION SHOW. The green group words are CATWALK, COLLECTION, DESIGNER, MODEL. CATWALK, COLLECTION, DESIGNER and MODEL are all core components of a fashion show. COLLECTION is the anchor — every other element exists to present it to the world.

Blue group answers

The Blue Connections group today is COMMONLY STRIPED THINGS. The blue group words are BARBER POLE, BILLIARD BALL, CREDIT CARD, CROSSWALK. BARBER POLE, BILLIARD BALL, CREDIT CARD and CROSSWALK are all things commonly associated with stripes. CROSSWALK is the sneakiest — those alternating white painted bands across the road are literal stripes, and the -WALK ending is pure misdirection.

Purple group answers

The Purple Connections group today is ENDING IN HORSE GAITS. The purple group words are DECANTER, ENVELOPE, FIREWALK, FOXTROT. DECANTER, ENVELOPE, FIREWALK and FOXTROT each end in a horse gait: CANTER, LOPE, WALK and TROT respectively. FOXTROT is the most disorienting — its ballroom-dance meaning is so strong that solvers instinctively reach for a dance category that simply does not exist in today's grid.