Ready for your Saturday brain workout? It’s time to take on NYT Connections, one of the most engaging daily word puzzles from The New York Times. If you’re struggling with today’s grid or just want to confirm your instincts before using up all four strikes, you’ve come to the right place.
Today’s puzzle was a bit of a curveball, especially if your mind wandered into the drinks aisle (like mine did). But worry not — we’ve broken it all down with hints, categories, and full answers.
Let’s dive in.
How to Play NYT Connections
In case you’re new to Connections, the game presents you with a 4×4 grid — 16 seemingly unrelated words. Your goal is to group them into four distinct categories of four words each. These could be phrases, concepts, types of something, or clever wordplay connections.
Each category is color-coded by difficulty:
- Yellow – Easiest
- Green – Medium
- Blue – Hard
- Purple – Tricky or Obscure
You’re allowed four mistakes before the game ends, so don’t just randomly guess. Think, connect, and use the process of elimination wisely.
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Today’s Puzzle Grid June 21
Here are the 16 words from today’s puzzle:
BRANDY, MALT, FIRM, BUTTER, STOUT, CIDER, PORT, HOUSE, LUXE, OUTFIT, THICK, SAUCE, SQUAT, GERM, CONCERN, SOLID
At first glance, I was thrown off by the number of food and drink-related words. Brandy, butter, cider, port, sauce — is this a cocktail recipe or a pub menu? Turns out, that’s only half the story.
Let’s break down the clues and work toward the answers.
Today’s NYT Connections Hints for June 21
If you’re not ready for full spoilers yet, here are the category hints to nudge you in the right direction:
- Yellow Group: Brick house
- Green Group: Incorporated
- Blue Group: Far from the tree
- Purple Group: Across the pond
These hints suggest physical traits, business terms, thematic play on “apple,” and some geography. Still stumped? Let’s unravel them step by step.
Today’s NYT Connections Answers for June 21
Blue Group – Apple Products:
BRANDY, BUTTER, CIDER, SAUCE
This was the trickiest for me. At first, I assumed “Brandy” and “Port” belonged in the same category, being alcoholic beverages. But when I realized this was a pun on apple products — not Apple Inc., but actual apple-based items — it clicked. Apple brandy, apple butter, apple cider, and apple sauce. Clever twist!
Yellow Group – Stocky/Thick-Bodied:
SOLID, SQUAT, STOUT, THICK
This group was more straightforward. All of these describe a compact or heavy-set physical form. “Firm” felt close, but didn’t quite fit the theme — it’s more about texture than body type. If you thought of dwarves from fantasy novels, or cartoon tough guys, you probably got this one quickly.
Green Group – Company:
FIRM, HOUSE, OUTFIT, CONCERN
This was deceptively simple — and yet threw me off due to the word Concern. I didn’t know that “concern” is a European synonym for a business or corporate group. Combine that with more familiar terms like firm, house, and outfit (as in production outfit), and it makes sense.
Related:
Purple Group – Starts of European Countries:
GERM, LUXE, MALT, PORT
This one had me circling the drain for a while. At first, I thought this was another food and beverage category — malt liquor, port wine, etc. But then I saw the pattern:
- GERM = Germany
- LUXE = Luxembourg
- MALT = Malta
- PORT = Portugal
A sneaky category using shortened or colloquial names for countries. Very NYT of them.
Also read:
Final Thoughts
Today’s puzzle was sneakily difficult, especially for a Saturday. That Blue Group was a misdirection masterpiece — you could easily mistake it for a booze theme and go totally off track. The Green and Purple categories leaned into lesser-known definitions and abbreviations, so they required some outside-the-box thinking (and perhaps a touch of European geography knowledge).
