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 Wednesday, June 17:

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Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase

Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained

Connections – Yellow Group

🟨 alcove (CAVITY, NICHE, NOOK, RECESS)

Yep, straightforward enough here. Thanks, category title.

“Alcove” always makes me think of one of my all-time favorite films, In Bruges . “Nooks and crannies, yes!”

Connections – Green Group

🟩 bodily words for attitude (CHEEK, LIP, MOUTH, NERVE)

This is a fun one. They’re all body-related words that can mean “impudence” or “back talk.”

🟦 figures in Greek myth (CALLIOPE, ECHO, IRIS, NEMESIS)

CALLIOPE is a goddess of music, song and dance. She is said to have inspired epic poetry.

ECHO is the goddess of, well, echoes. “The goddess Hera cursed her with just an echo for a voice as punishment for distracting her from the affairs of Zeus with her endless chatter,” according to the Theoi Project . Sounds like a supervillain origin story to me.

IRIS is a famous Goo Goo Dolls son- sorry. She is the goddess of the rainbow. Love that for her.

NEMESIS is the goddess of vengeance, revenge, retribution and balance. What a rad combination .

Connections – Purple Group

🟪 starting with synonyms for "ilk" (CLASSIC, KINDLE, SORTIE, TYPEFACE)

  • CLASSIC > class
  • KINDLE > kind
  • SORTIE > sort
  • TYPEFACE > type

Connections – Red Herrings

I saw a few different pairings that tripped me up momentarily. KINDLE and NOOK are both types of e-readers. KINDLE and ECHO are Amazon devices. CAVITY and IRIS both concern the body as well.

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 .