Waking up and realizing you’re down to your last mistake on the NYT Connections grid is a specific kind of morning stress. It’s worse than a cold cup of coffee. You stare at those sixteen words and suddenly "Draft" and "Check" seem like they could belong to ten different groups. If you are looking for the Connections hint June 13, you probably already know that the New York Times editors love to play with your head. They use red herrings like a chef uses salt—liberally and with the intent to overpower the main dish.
Today's puzzle is no exception. It’s tricky.
What makes the Connections hint June 13 so difficult?
The game is basically a psychological test disguised as a word puzzle. Created by Wyna Liu, Connections isn't just about knowing definitions. It’s about knowing how words behave in the wild. On June 13, the difficulty curve feels like a steep hike.
You’ve got words that look like they belong in a bank, others that seem like they’re from a sports bar, and a few that feel totally random. But they aren't. They never are. The trick is to look for the "crossover" words first. These are the terms designed to make you waste your guesses. For example, if you see the word "Draft," your brain might immediately jump to beer. Or maybe a breeze coming through a window. Or the NFL.
That’s exactly what the puzzle wants you to do. It wants you to stay in the shallow end of the pool. To solve the Connections hint June 13, you have to dive into the second or third meaning of these words.
Breaking down the June 13 categories
Let's look at the groups without spoiling the whole thing immediately.
Usually, the Yellow group is the most straightforward. It’s the "straight A student" of the bunch. On June 13, this group focuses on things that are essentially synonyms for a specific action or state. Think about things you do when you're trying to finalize a document or a plan.
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The Green group often involves a common theme, like "Types of Cheese" or "Words in a Song Title." Today, it’s a bit more technical but still manageable if you've ever dealt with paperwork or formal processes.
Then there’s the Blue group. This is where things get spicy. This group often relies on a specific "word-within-a-word" or a shared suffix/prefix. For the Connections hint June 13, the Blue group is actually about a specific set of items that share a very physical characteristic.
Finally, the Purple group. Oh, Purple. The bane of everyone’s existence. Purple is rarely about what the words mean and almost always about how they look or what you can add to them. It’s the category that makes you say, "Are you kidding me?" once the answer is revealed.
Real strategies for today’s grid
Stop clicking. Seriously.
The biggest mistake people make with the June 13 puzzle is rapid-fire guessing. Every time you get a "One Away" notification, your heart rate goes up and your logic goes down.
- Shuffle is your best friend. Sometimes, seeing the words in a different physical location on your screen breaks the mental loops you're stuck in. If "Draft" is sitting next to "Bottle" because of the initial layout, you'll keep thinking about beer. Shuffle them.
- Say them out loud. Sometimes the phonetic sound of a word triggers a connection that your eyes missed.
- Ignore the obvious. If four words seem too perfect together, they are almost certainly a trap. The NYT editors know you're looking for the easy win. They hide the real groups behind these decoys.
Why we obsess over these daily puzzles
Why do we do this to ourselves? Honestly, it’s about the dopamine. There is a specific neurological reward when you finally see the connection between four seemingly unrelated words. It’s a "eureka" moment that helps wake up the prefrontal cortex.
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In a world of mindless scrolling, Connections actually requires you to use your brain. It’s a tiny, digital trophy you get to win every morning. On June 13, that trophy feels a little heavier because the puzzle is particularly clever with its wordplay.
The actual answers for June 13
If you’ve tried everything and you’re about to throw your phone across the room, here is the breakdown of the groups for the Connections hint June 13.
Yellow: Parts of a To-Do List
These are the actions you take when you're checking things off or moving through a process.
- CHECK
- DRAFT
- LIST
- POST
Green: Things That Are "Thin"
This is a classic "commonality" group. All these words describe something with a very small width.
- FILM
- LAYER
- SHEET
- SLIVER
Blue: Words That Follow "MAIL"
This is a common trope in the puzzle—words that create a compound word or phrase when paired with a specific prefix.
- CARRIER
- ORDER
- SLOT
- VOICE
Purple: Things with "Wings"
This is the "aha!" category for today. You have to think about the physical objects or entities and whether they possess wings.
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- AIRPLANE
- ANGEL
- BUILDING
- MOTH
Common pitfalls in the June 13 puzzle
A lot of people got tripped up by "Draft" and "Post." You might think of a "Post Office" and try to link it with "Mail Carrier." It’s a logical thought! But in the world of Connections, logic is often a secondary concern to the specific structure of the groups.
Another trap was "Sheet" and "Check." If you’re thinking about a bed or a hotel, you might try to find other words that fit a travel theme. But "Check" belongs with the list-making verbs.
How to get better at Connections long-term
If you want to stop searching for hints every day, you need to start thinking like the puzzle designers. They love homophones. They love words that can be both a noun and a verb.
Start by identifying the "weirdest" word on the board. On June 13, "Sliver" or "Moth" are probably the outliers. "Moth" is so specific. It’s an insect. Are there other insects? No. So "Moth" must belong to a category based on its attributes—like having wings or being attracted to light.
That’s how you solve these things. You find the weirdo and you find its friends.
Take these steps for your next game
- Wait to lock in your first guess. Even if you're 90% sure, look for a fifth word that could also fit. If there's a fifth word, you haven't found the right category yet.
- Look for prefixes. "Mail-", "Work-", "Back-", and "Side-" are very common themes.
- Check for parts of a whole. Sometimes the words are all parts of a car, or parts of a book, or parts of a flower.
- Don't forget the "Hidden Word" trick. Sometimes the category is "Words that contain a color" or "Words that are also US States when you add two letters."
The June 13 puzzle is a reminder that the simplest words are often the most complex. "Post" can be a piece of wood, a social media update, or a mail system. "Draft" can be a breeze, a version of a paper, or a military call-up. When you stop looking at what the word is and start looking at what it could be, the grid starts to melt away.
Tomorrow will be a new set of sixteen words and a new set of frustrations. But for now, you can breathe easy knowing you've conquered the June 13 grid. Keep your eyes peeled for those double meanings and never trust a word that seems too eager to be part of a group.
Grab a fresh cup of coffee. You've earned it.