On June 4, the published solution set for NYT Connections puzzle No. 1089 went live, giving players the official answers for that day’s grid; earlier in the week, the Connections: Sports Edition No. 616 answers appeared for June 1, 2026.
Puzzle No. 1089 divided its 16 words into four categories. The Painting media group was ACRYLIC, GOUACHE, OIL and TEMPERA. Another set — labeled Starts of classic hip‑hop groups — collected BEASTIE, PUBLIC, RUN and SALT. The remaining quartet fell under the pattern Ghost ___, with KITCHEN, PEPPER, TOWN and WRITER as the answers.
The Athletic’s Connections: Sports Edition No. 616, published June 1, used the same 16‑word, four‑group format. Its Parts of a baseball roster category was LINEUP, BENCH, ROTATION and BULLPEN. Gym equipment came as ELLIPTICAL, MEDICINE BALL, ROWING MACHINE and TREADMILL. The Philadelphia Phillies players in that puzzle were MARSH, NOLA, TURNER and WHEELER. The fourth sports set — Muscle nicknames, plus a letter — produced FLAT, SPEC, SQUAD and WHAMMY.
Those answers matter because Connections is built around a strict daily rhythm: version resets after midnight, each puzzle contains 16 words grouped into four categories, and players have up to four mistakes before the game ends. The Athletic markets its edition as the site’s first‑ever game and a daily test of pattern recognition, and one of its creators identified himself plainly — "That’s me!" — when speaking about the project. Mark Cooper creates Connections: Sports Edition and works as a managing editor for college sports at The Athletic.
For players who track past grids, the archive of solved puzzles is already growing; for context and prior examples see the site’s coverage such as Nyt Connections Hints Today: Puzzle No. 1,079 Solved for May 25 —
The June 4 lineup illustrates the puzzle’s dual character: the Painting media set is practically a giveaway for anyone fluent in paint names, yet the same grid contains sets that can still be tricky. Starts of classic hip‑hop groups and Ghost ___ require a different kind of lateral thinking — a move from specific vocabulary to familiar phrases — and that mix is what keeps the puzzle from becoming predictable even when one category pulls obvious answers.
One detail the published solutions do not make plain is which specific hint categories, if any, were displayed to players before the answers were posted; the solution lists stand alone. That gap matters to players who try to judge how much the published hints alter the game’s difficulty or how often an apparently easy category is paired with a tougher one on the same board.
What comes next is straightforward: new Connections puzzles appear after midnight in your time zone, with a fresh set of 16 words, four categories and the same four‑mistake safety net. For players who want the challenge first, the only practical step is to try the puzzle live each day; for those who rely on published solutions, the daily reveals will continue to supply the official groupings and answers.
