You want today’s answers. Fine. Here they are.
Skip the intro fluff if you know the drill. You’re looking for June 22’s Connections, puzzle number 1106. The article claims this one is a real challenge, though that feels like hyperbole unless you’re stuck on the purple group.
The Times dropped a bot recently. Like the Wordle one. Go play your game. Then go see the bot. It spits out a number. A score. If you’re the type to obsess over stats—win rate, perfect scores, streaks—it’s all there. Nerd out all you want.
The Groups
Start yellow. Easy wins first.
The hint says “You rule!”
Think power. Authority. Top of the food chain. The words are Alpha, Head, Lead, and Primary. Straightforward stuff. Don’t overthink it.
Green comes next.
Math time. Specifically multiplication.
What connects them? Indicators. Symbols. Words that mean “times.” The list includes By, Times, X, and that dot symbol •. You’ve seen them before. Probably.
Blue gets weird.
Not the hardest. Just linguistic. The theme is pronunciation descriptors. How you say words. Or don’t.
You’re looking for Short, Silent, Soft, and Stressed. It’s phonetics 101. Keep your mouth open.
Now. The purple one.
Loud sounds. But not just any sounds.
The hint is “Loud sounds” but the real trick is the start of the word. It’s explosive onomatopoeia baked into proper nouns and objects.
Think Bangkok. It starts with Bang.
Boomer. Boom.
Popsicle. Pop.
Powder. Pow.
Explosions in your mouth. Or in words, at least.
The Hall of Shame
This puzzle wasn’t the hardest ever. We know this because we have records.
Check out these monsters if you want to feel bad:
- Puzzle #5 : Things you can set. Mood. Record. Table. Volleyball. Why? I don’t know.
- Puzzle #4 : One in a dozen. Egg. Juror. Month. Rose. Math again? No, just weird grouping.
- Puzzle #3 : Streets on screen. Elm. Fear. Jump. Sesame. Pop culture and geography colliding.
- Puzzle #2 : Power ___. Nap. Plant. Ranger. Trip. Fill in the blank, but the blank is different every time.
- Puzzle #1 : Things that can run. Candidate. Faucet. Mascara. Nose. Yes, your nose. It runs.
So how did you do today? Did you nail the powder reference, or were you still searching for quiet sounds in Bangkok?
Probably doesn’t matter. You’ll forget by tomorrow anyway. The next puzzle waits. It doesn’t care about your win streak.
Just click play. Again.
