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NYT Connections hint and answers (Fri, Jun 21)

Need a hint for today's Connections? Read our guide for help with Connections #376

The NYT Connections logo, layered on top of a screenshot of a Connections grid.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/NYT

This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today's solution? Check out the Connections hint and answers for Wednesday 23rd October!

Want a hint for Connections today? Piggybacking off the monumental success of daily puzzle game Wordle, the New York Times has another fantastically popular word game out now. It's called Connections, and if you haven't played it before, now's the time to start.

In this guide, we'll give you a handy hint selection for today's Connections puzzle on Friday, June 21st, before revealing the group themes and the Connections answers themselves. We'll also explain how to play Connections if this is your first time coming over from Wordle!

Looking for an alternative to Wordle? Here are eight of our favourite Wordle-likes to add to your morning puzzle routine.Watch on YouTube

Connections words on Friday, June 21

For reference, here are the 16 Connections words for today:

Cinderella Tailgate Green Light Rumpelstiltskin
Ferris Wheel Bumper-To-Bumper David-And-Goliath Thumbs-Up
Buttermilk Rags-To-Riches Merry-Go-Round Clearance
Underdog Tilt-A-Whirl Go-Ahead Roller Coaster

Connections hint for June 21

Here's a hint for each of the word groups in today's Connections puzzle, plus a couple more clues to help you find the answer:

  • Yellow (Easiest): Found at carnivals and theme parks.
  • Green (Easy): When your boss tells you it's okay to do something.
  • Blue (Medium): Other ways to describe the "from zero to hero" story trope.
  • Purple (Hardest): All of these words have other cheeky words hidden in them.
  • Extra hint 1: "Tilt-A-Whirl" and "Go-Ahead" are in different groups.
  • Extra hint 2: For the cheeky words in the Purple group, try literally thinking about cheeks aside from the ones on your face.

Connections groups for June 21

If you need an even bigger clue to figure out today's Connections puzzle, below we'll reveal the four correct Connections groups - the themes which link together each set of four words in the Connections grid.

Here are the Connections groups for today:

  • Amusement Park Rides
  • Approval
  • Types Of Come-From-Behind Stories
  • Beginning With Synonyms For Rear End

Now that you know the themes for the various different Connections in today's puzzle, see if you can solve it! If not, check just below for the full answer.


Spoiler warning! Today's Connections answer lies ahead!


The splash screen for Connections, a word game on the NYT website.
Image credit: NYT

What is the answer to Connections today (Friday June 21)?

  • Amusement Park Rides: Ferris Wheel, Merry-Go-Round, Roller Coaster, Tilt-A-Whirl
  • Approval: Clearance, Go-Ahead, Green Light, Thumbs-Up
  • Types Of Come-From-Behind Stories: Cinderella, David-And-Goliath, Rags-To-Riches, Underdog
  • Beginning With Synonyms For Rear End: Bumper-To-Bumper, Buttermilk, Rumpelstiltskin, Tailgate

Congratulations if you got today's Connections answer right, with or without the help of our handy hints above! And if you didn't succeed today, don't worry - a new Connections puzzle is released every day at midnight, so you can try again tomorrow, just like with Wordle!

What is Connections?

Connections is a word puzzle game published every day by the NYT, the hosts of the endlessly popular Wordle puzzle. Crafted each day by crossword puzzle-maker Wyna Liu, Connections presents you with a selection of 16 seemingly disparate words, and you have to group them together in four sets of four, where each group of four words has a common theme.

For instance, the words "Hook", "Nana", "Peter", and "Wendy" are all Peter Pan characters. Or to take another example, "Action", "Ballpark", "Go", and "Stick" are all words which commonly come just before the word "Figure".

Your job is to figure out what these themes are that connect the various words together - but be wary, because a lot of the time there are red herring connections placed in there deliberately to throw you off! To win the game, you have to find all four Connections without making 4 mistakes. On your fourth mistake, the game is over and the answer is revealed automatically.

Each of the four groups in each day's Connections puzzle is also assigned a different colour, which represents how easy or difficult the Connection is to find. These colours are: Yellow (Easiest), Green (Easy), Blue (Medium), and Purple (Hardest).


That wraps up today's guide on how to solve the NYT Connections word puzzle. If you're looking for help with Wordle, we've also got you covered with our list of past Wordle answers, as well as the Wordle hint and answer for Wednesday 23rd October. You can also check out our list of the best starting words for Wordle, or use our Wordle Solver tool to help you find the answer with ease!

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