NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, June 5 (game #1090)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, June 4 (game #1089).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1090) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FLAKE
• OSCAR
• WITCH
• GHOST
• INCUBUS
• BREADCRUMB
• CLUSTER
• SITUATIONSHIP
• STRIPTEASE
• PUFF
• QUATRAIN
• FOREST
• OVEN
• DISCLOSURE
• LOOP
• THE SUBSTANCE

NYT Connections today (game #1090) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Feature in classic fairy tale
• GREEN: Breakfast food elements
• BLUE: Starring Bruce Willis’s ex-wife
• PURPLE: Get around… in the end

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1090) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: ASSOCIATED WITH HANSEL AND GRETEL
• GREEN: BIT OF CEREAL
• BLUE: DEMI MOORE MOVIES
• PURPLE: ENDING IN METHODS OF TRANSPORTATION 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1090) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1090, are…

• YELLOW: ASSOCIATED WITH HANSEL AND GRETEL BREADCRUMB, FOREST, OVEN, WITCH
• GREEN: BIT OF CEREAL CLUSTER, FLAKE, LOOP, PUFF
• BLUE: DEMI MOORE MOVIES DISCLOSURE, GHOST, STRIPTEASE, THE SUBSTANCE
• PURPLE: ENDING IN METHODS OF TRANSPORTATION INCUBUS, OSCAR, QUATRAIN, SITUATIONSHIP

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

No mistakes again, but I am full of regret for not spotting the purple group sooner. 

Kudos if you saw ENDING IN METHODS OF TRANSPORTATION, but I didn’t realize that the band INCUBUS was irrelevant until I only had eight tiles left. Were QUATRAIN also a band, I spent far too long wondering.

DEMI MOORE MOVIES was a much easier spot for me, although I cannot claim to have seen all of her work. I thought THE SUBSTANCE was amazing, not that i would recommend watching it before or after eating; best to leave a four-hour window minimum.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, June 4, game #1089)

• YELLOW: PAINTING MEDIA ACRYLIC, GOUACHE, OIL, TEMPERA
• GREEN: ESPRIT GUSTO, PANACHE, VERVE, VINEGAR
• BLUE: STARTS OF CLASSIC HIP-HOP GROUPS BEASTIE, PUBLIC, RUN, SALT
• PURPLE: GHOST_____ KITCHEN, PEPPER, TOWN, WRITER

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.