Note : Make sure to complete today’s NYT Connections before reading further! We’ll be getting into spoilers for today’s game pretty quickly. If you need some help to complete the grid, you can find my NYT Connections hints and answers column for today right here :

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to my deeper dive into today’s Connections answers. The idea behind this is to help clear things up for anyone who isn’t sure how today’s groups fit together.

If I’ve missed any red herrings or misunderstood something, let me know via email or on Discord . I don’t typically look at X or check the comments here.

I’m going to assume that you’ve already beaten today’s game. We’re going straight into spoiler territory here. So, consider this your one and only warning .

Here are today’s NYT Connections answers explained (and any red herrings I spot) for Monday, June 8:

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Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase

Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained

Connections – Yellow Group

🟨 landforms by water (DELTA, ISLAND, ISTHMUS, PENINSULA)

A DELTA is a landform that’s often triangular (like the Greek letter) and is formed by deposits at a river’s mouth.

An ISLAND is a landform completely surrounded by water – as all land technically is.

An ISTHMUS is a narrow strip of land that connects two larger landforms across water.

A PENINSULA is connected to the mainland on only one side and is otherwise surrounded by water.

Connections – Green Group

🟩 slang for head (COCONUT, DOME, MELON, PATE)

Without getting into the etymology of it, the category title has us covered here.

🟦 things that can be spiked (MOHAWK, PUNCH, SEA URCHIN, VOLLEYBALL)

A MOHAWK is a hairstyle that typically features both sides of the head being shaved with a strip of longer hair in the center. This is often shaped into a spike using hair products. Here’s a particularly tall example:

A PUNCH is typically a combination of fruit juices that’s served in a large bowl from which people can serve themselves. If alcohol is added, it’s deemed to be spiked.

There are more than 950 species of the SEA URCHIN. They typically have a hard shell that’s covered in spines. The gonads (or tongues) of some SEA URCHIN species are often eaten as a delicacy too:

To spike a VOLLEYBALL, a player will typically jump at the net, and strike the ball downward and into the opponent’s side of the court with their palm.

Connections – Purple Group

🟪 The _____ Man movies (ELEPHANT, INVISIBLE, OMEGA, RUNNING)

The ELEPHANT Man is a David Lynch drama that’s based on the life of Joseph Merrick, who was known for his deformities:

There have been several movies titled The INVISIBLE Man that were based on H.G. Wells’ novel of the same name. The most recent was a 2020 horror film by Leigh Whannell. I haven’t seen it yet, but I feel like this trailer gives away an awful lot!

Nor have I seen The OMEGA Man, a post-apocalyptic action film from the ‘70s by Boris Sagal that’s based on Richard Matheson’s novel, I Am Legend (which was also adapted into a film starring Will Smith). This version stars Charlton Heston:

I have seen both iterations of The RUNNING Man . As much as I enjoy Edgar Wright’s work in general, I prefer Paul Michael Glaser’s version from 1987, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Connections – Red Herrings

DELTA and OMEGA are both Greek letters. Other than that, I didn’t see any red herrings!

If you’d like to chat about today’s game of Connections and just about anything else with me and a very lovely group of people, you can do just that in our Discord community . We’d love for you to hang out with us.

I’ll be back with another set of NYT Connections hints and answers tomorrow, as well as another edition of this one, all going well. You’ll be able to find both of those on my Forbes author page when the time comes (following me there helps me out too!). As for the weekend editions of my NYT Connections hints and answers column, I’m currently doing that via my newsletter, Pastimes .