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Today's NYT Connections Hints and Answers: Help for June 1, #356

Here are some hints, and the answers, for Connections No. 356, for Saturday, June 1.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Cooper
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New York Times Connections word game

Need some hints and answers for today's NYT Connections puzzle? Read on.

 James Martin/CNET

Looking for the answers to the June 1 New York Times Connections puzzle? To me, Wordle is more of a vocabulary test and Connections is more of a brainteaser. You're given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. Sometimes they're obvious, but the game editor knows how to trick you by using words that can fit in more than one group. 

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

We've also got some tips for Strands, a new game from the Times that's still in beta.

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: Do it fast.

Green group hint: Related to the sea.

Blue group hint: Weightlifting words.

Purple group hint: Sound-alike names for famous thinkers.

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Don't delay.

Green group: Ocean phenomena.

Blue group: Dumbbell exercises.

Purple group: Philosopher homophones.

What are today's Connections answers?

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is don't delay. The four words are hurry, now, pronto and stat.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is ocean phenomena. The four words are current, drift, tide and wave.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is dumbbell exercises. The four words are curl, fly, press and row.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is philosopher homophones. The four words are lock, marks, pane and rustle. (John Locke, Karl Marx, Thomas Paine and Bertrand Russell.)

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."