The New York Times continues to expand its popular collection of daily puzzles with Connections, the word-association game that challenges players to uncover hidden links between seemingly unrelated words. Puzzle #1096 for June 11, 2026 offers a mix of fitness-related terms, horned figures and objects, clever homophones and a tricky Purple category involving popular payment apps. Some groups are easy to spot, while others require players to think about pronunciation and missing letters. If today's puzzle has you stuck, here are spoiler-free hints, the complete answers and a quick guide to how Connections works.What is NYT's 'Connections' game?Connections is a daily word puzzle from The New York Times that asks players to organise 16 words into four groups of four. Each group shares a hidden connection, which may involve categories, meanings, phrases, themes, wordplay or homophones.The puzzle uses four colour-coded difficulty levels:Yellow: Usually the easiest categoryGreen: Moderate difficultyBlue: Often requires a less obvious connectionPurple: Typically the most challenging and wordplay-heavy categoryPlayers have a limited number of mistakes before the game ends, making strategy and observation essential.NYT Connections hints for todayYellow: Common parts of a workout.Green: Things known for having horns.Blue: Say these words aloud.Purple: Popular payment apps, missing a letter.NYT Connections answers for June 11, 2026Here are the correct groupings for today's puzzle:Yellow – PARTS OF A WORKOUT ROUTINE:BALANCE, CARDIO, STRETCHING, WEIGHTSGreen – THINGS WITH HORNS:BRASS BAND, DEVIL, RHINO, VIKING HELMETBlue – HOMOPHONES OF SUVS:BRONCHO, FORERUNNER, TROUPER, UCONNPurple – PAYMENT APPS MINUS A LETTER:ELLE, PAPAL, STRIP, VENOHow to play NYT ConnectionsThe puzzle presents 16 words arranged in a grid, and your goal is to organise them into four groups of four words that share a hidden connection. 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 relationships between words. Solving one category often makes the remaining connections easier to spot. Once you identify four words that belong together, select them and submit your answer. Correct groups are automatically locked into place.Because only a limited number of incorrect guesses are allowed, it often helps to solve the easier Yellow and Green categories before tackling the more challenging Blue and Purple groups.Other NYT games to exploreIf you enjoy Connections, The New York Times also offers several other popular daily puzzle games:Wordle: Guess a five-letter word in six attemptsSpelling Bee: Create as many words as possible using a specific set of lettersThe Mini Crossword: A short daily crossword challengeStrands: A word-search-inspired puzzle built around hidden themesTogether, these games have become a daily ritual for millions of puzzle enthusiasts looking to test their vocabulary, logic and pattern-recognition skills.