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NYT Releases Answers to Hard June 20 Connections #1105

6/20/2026

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Summary

NYT Answers

The New York Times (U.S.) released the answers to its June 20, 2026 Connections puzzle #1105.
The yellow category “Featuring silent and pronounced K’s” includes JACKKNIFE, KNAPSACK, KNICKS and KNOCK-KNOCK.
The green category “Endorse” lists BACK, BOLSTER, CHAMPION and SUPPORT.
The puzzle was rated “Hard” and earned a 2.3 out of 5 difficulty score.
Players receive four guesses, lose after four mistakes, and get a “one-away” hint when close.

Summary

Connections Bot Scores

The game releases a fresh Connections grid at midnight in each player’s zone.
Players have four guesses before the puzzle ends, after which a Connections Bot gives a score and logs win rate, streaks and puzzles solved.
The June 19 board, rated 2/5 in difficulty—easier than the prior day’s 2.3—had designers add red herrings, with hints urging players to say clues aloud to hear hidden suffixes such as “tally,” “sum,” and “count.”

Summary

Athletic Launches

The Athletic released the Connections Sports Edition in its own app, not the NYT Games app.
Puzzle #634, posted June 19 2026, is moderate difficulty and follows yellow-easy, purple-hard color coding.
The blue group lists Balogun, Dest, Ream and Scally, all current U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team members.
A FAQ note says the Sports Edition is not free and needs an Athletic subscription.

History

Historical Context

Arthur Wynne’s “word-cross” puzzle debuted in the New York World on 21 December 1913, establishing the modern crossword format. The concept quickly spread; by the early 1920s newspapers nationwide ran weekly puzzles, and Simon & Schuster’s 1924 crossword book sparked a mass craze. Today, the NYT and The Athletic’s 2026 Connections grids echo that legacy, shifting the free-paper model to subscription-based digital play.

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NYT Answers

The New York Times (U.S.) released the answers to its June 20, 2026 Connections puzzle #1105.
The yellow category “Featuring silent and pronounced K’s” includes JACKKNIFE, KNAPSACK, KNICKS and KNOCK-KNOCK.
The green category “Endorse” lists BACK, BOLSTER, CHAMPION and SUPPORT.
The puzzle was rated “Hard” and earned a 2.3 out of 5 difficulty score.
Players receive four guesses, lose after four mistakes, and get a “one-away” hint when close.

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