Today's NYT Connections Answers for June 26 Were Pretty Tough

Need today's Connections answers? Read on. James Martin/CNET

Did you get stumped by the June 26 New York Times Connections puzzle? The yellow category seemed almost too easy to be true, but the purple one required players to really think about a semi-obscure connection between words.

If you're reading this, you likely know how to play Connections. You're given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. Sometimes they're obvious, but game editor Wyna Liu knows how to trick you by using words that can fit into more than one group.

And do you also play Wordle? We've got today's Wordle answer and hints too. It's a tricky one today.

We've also got today's answer and some general tips for Strands, a new game from the Times that just moved out of beta, and is now in the Times' official Games app.

Hints for today's Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Time to salute.

Green group hint: Charge it.

Blue group hint: Customers want it.

Purple group hint: Don Draper's passion.

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Army ranks.

Green group: Place to plug something in.

Blue group: Consumer desire, collectively.

Purple group: ____ ad.

What are today's Connections answers?

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is army ranks. The four answers are captain, general, major and private.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is place to plug something in. The four answers are jack, outlet, port and socket.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is consumer desire, collectively. The four answers are appetite, audience, demand and market.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is ____ ad. The four answers are attack, personal, pop-up and want.

How to play Connections

Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are coded by color, though you don't know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the toughest. Look at the words carefully, and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just a part of the word. Once, four words were grouped because each started with the name of a rock band, including "Rushmore" and "Journeyman."