NYT Connections hints and answers for today, June 9, 2026

The New York Times continues to expand its collection of daily puzzle games with Connections, a word-association challenge that asks players to find hidden relationships between seemingly unrelated terms. Puzzle #1094 for June 9 offers a mix of straightforward categories and more deceptive connections, requiring players to think beyond the obvious meanings of individual words. Today's board includes symbols of innocence, things that should remain confidential, items commonly shown in superscript and a Purple category built around slang names for musical instruments. If you are stuck on today's puzzle, here are the spoiler-free hints, full answers and a quick guide on how Connections works.Connections is a daily puzzle from The New York Times that challenges players to sort 16 words into four groups of four based on a shared connection.The game uses four colour-coded difficulty levels:Yellow: Usually the easiest categoryGreen: Moderately challengingBlue: More difficult associationsPurple: Often the trickiest category involving wordplay or unconventional connectionsPlayers must identify all four groups while avoiding too many incorrect guesses. The challenge comes from the fact that many words can appear to fit multiple categories before the correct connections become clear.Here are the correct groupings for today's puzzle:Yellow – SYMBOLS OF INNOCENCEANGELBABEDOVELAMBGreen – THINGS YOU SHOULDN'T REVEALPASSWORDSECRETSPOILERSURPRISEBlue – THINGS REPRESENTED IN SUPERSCRIPTASTERISKDEGREEEXPONENTTRADEMARKPurple – SLANG FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTSAXEBONEKEYSSKINSThe puzzle presents 16 words arranged in a grid. Your task is to organise them into four groups of four words that share a hidden relationship.A new Connections puzzle is released daily through The New York Times Games website and mobile app. Players should start by looking for the most obvious associations before tackling the more difficult categories. Rearranging possible groupings often helps reveal patterns that are not immediately visible.Once you believe four words belong together, select them and submit your answer. If the group is correct, it is locked into place. Since the game allows only a limited number of mistakes, careful observation and elimination are often the key to solving the tougher Blue and Purple categories.If you enjoy Connections, The New York Times also offers several other popular daily puzzles:Wordle: Guess a five-letter word in six attemptsSpelling Bee: Form as many words as possible using a specific set of lettersThe Mini Crossword: A quick daily crossword challengeStrands: A themed word-search puzzle that combines pattern recognition and vocabulary skillsWith its mix of logic, vocabulary and lateral thinking, Connections has become one of the newspaper's fastest-growing puzzle games, and today's puzzle offers another enjoyable test of word association skills.