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Use the quick hints first if you want to protect your streak. The full answers and explanations are farther down the page.
Post
Shaft
Stake
Betray
Display
Express
Register
Basilisk
Dragon
Monitor
Skink
Dinner
Drafting
Round
Times
Looking for NYT Connections hints and answers today without having the whole grid spoiled at once? Here is a clean walk through the June 6, 2026 puzzle, with gentle hints first and the full answers farther down.
If you are catching up, yesterday’s puzzle is here: https://fluentslang.com/nyt-connections-hints-answers-today-june-5-2026/. When you are ready for the next grid, keep the streak moving with tomorrow’s page at https://fluentslang.com/nyt-connections-hints-answers-today-june-7-2026/.
Today’s Connections Words
The 16 words in today’s puzzle are:
POLE, POST, SHAFT, STAKE, BETRAY, DISPLAY, EXPRESS, REGISTER, BASILISK, DRAGON, MONITOR, SKINK, DINNER, DRAFTING, ROUND, TIMES.
At first glance, this one looks like a pile of ordinary nouns with a few dramatic animals mixed in. That is exactly where the trap lives. Words like POST, STAKE, ROUND, and TIMES can pull you toward jobs, sports, betting, newspapers, or math before the real categories settle into place.
The lizard group is the flashiest one, but it is not necessarily the easiest. BASILISK sounds mythical, DRAGON sounds mythical, MONITOR sounds like a screen, and SKINK may look like a typo if you have never met the word before. For more background, the same-day explainers on https://fluentslang.com/basilisk-meaning/, https://fluentslang.com/monitor-lizard-meaning/, and https://fluentslang.com/skink-meaning/ dig into why those words work beyond this puzzle.
Quick No-Spoiler Hints
Yellow group hint: Think of things that can stand upright and support something.
Green group hint: These words can describe how feelings show on a person.
Blue group hint: These are reptiles, but not all of them sound like plain animal names.
Purple group hint: Each word can appear before the same common household word.
Stronger Hints
Yellow: POLE, POST, SHAFT, and STAKE are all pillar-like objects. They are long, upright, and used for support, marking, or holding something in place.
Green: BETRAY, DISPLAY, EXPRESS, and REGISTER can all mean to show an emotion. A face can betray fear. A voice can express anger. A reaction can register surprise.
Blue: BASILISK, DRAGON, MONITOR, and SKINK are kinds of lizards. DRAGON here is not just a fantasy monster; it points toward real lizard names such as bearded dragon.
Purple: DINNER, DRAFTING, ROUND, and TIMES can all come before TABLE. You can have a dinner table, drafting table, round table, and times table.
Today’s Connections Answers
PILLAR: POLE, POST, SHAFT, STAKE
INDICATE, AS EMOTIONS: BETRAY, DISPLAY, EXPRESS, REGISTER
KINDS OF LIZARDS: BASILISK, DRAGON, MONITOR, SKINK
___ TABLE: DINNER, DRAFTING, ROUND, TIMES
Why Each Group Works
PILLAR: POLE, POST, SHAFT, STAKE.
These four words all name long upright supports or support-like objects. A POLE can hold a flag or sign. A POST can hold up a fence. A SHAFT can be a long vertical or narrow structural part. A STAKE can be driven into the ground to mark, brace, or support something.
The trap is that these words have many other lives. POST can mean mail, a job, or something online. STAKE can mean a bet or an interest in a company. SHAFT can mean to cheat someone in slang. POLE can point to geography, dancing, or measuring. The puzzle wants the physical support sense, not the loudest modern meaning.
INDICATE, AS EMOTIONS: BETRAY, DISPLAY, EXPRESS, REGISTER.
This group is about feelings showing through. If your face betrays disappointment, it reveals it even if you tried to hide it. If someone displays joy, they show it openly. If a person expresses anger, they put it into words, tone, or action. If surprise registers on someone’s face, it becomes visible.
The trap is treating these as tech, art, or communication words. DISPLAY can be a screen. REGISTER can be a cash register or a sign-up list. EXPRESS can mean fast shipping. BETRAY can mean treason. The shared thread is emotional indication.
KINDS OF LIZARDS: BASILISK, DRAGON, MONITOR, SKINK.
This is the group that probably made many solvers pause. A BASILISK is a real lizard name as well as a legendary creature name. DRAGON appears in lizard names like bearded dragon and Komodo dragon. MONITOR is a family of lizards, not just a screen. SKINK is a common kind of lizard with smooth scales and short legs.
The trap is mythology and electronics. BASILISK and DRAGON look like fantasy clues, while MONITOR looks like computer hardware. SKINK may be the only word that screams lizard, and even that depends on your animal vocabulary. If BASILISK was the word that bothered you most, see https://fluentslang.com/basilisk-meaning/. If MONITOR looked like office equipment, https://fluentslang.com/monitor-lizard-meaning/ explains the animal sense. And if SKINK felt unfamiliar, https://fluentslang.com/skink-meaning/ gives the plain-English version.
___ TABLE: DINNER, DRAFTING, ROUND, TIMES.
Each of these words forms a familiar phrase when placed before TABLE. A DINNER TABLE is where meals are served. A DRAFTING TABLE is used for drawing plans. A ROUND TABLE can be an actual circular table or a meeting of equals. A TIMES TABLE is the multiplication chart many people learn in school.
The trap is that ROUND and TIMES can point hard toward sports, math, newspapers, or schedules. DINNER is almost too obvious, which can make it feel suspicious. DRAFTING might drag your mind toward sports drafts or writing drafts. The trick is seeing TABLE as the missing second word.
Tricky Words And Decoys
BASILISK is tricky because it has two strong identities. In myth, a basilisk is a deadly creature. In real life, basilisk is also a lizard name. Connections often uses this kind of double identity to make a word feel misplaced until the category clicks.
MONITOR may be the best decoy in the blue group. Most people see MONITOR and think computer screen, classroom helper, or something that tracks information. In this puzzle, it belongs with reptiles. The phrase monitor lizard is the key.
DRAGON is another clever one. It invites fantasy, but the puzzle wants the animal-name lane. Bearded dragons and Komodo dragons are real reptiles, even if the word also belongs to castles and storybooks.
SKINK is the least common everyday word in the set, which makes it useful as an anchor. When a strange animal word appears beside three slippery double-meaning words, it often tells you what the group is really doing.
POST, STAKE, and TIMES are also noisy. They are common words with too many possible directions. In a grid like this, common words are often less helpful than weird ones. The weird words give the category away; the common words try to pretend they belong somewhere else.
How To Solve More Puzzles Like This
Start with the strangest words. BASILISK and SKINK are more revealing than POST and ROUND because they have fewer everyday uses. If two strange words seem related, test whether two ordinary words can join them in a more specific sense.
Watch for category labels hiding behind ordinary meanings. MONITOR is not a screen today. REGISTER is not a machine today. TIMES is not a newspaper today. Connections loves words that look settled but quietly change jobs.
When a word can be a noun and a verb, ask which version the puzzle is using. DISPLAY, EXPRESS, REGISTER, and BETRAY all work as actions in the emotion group. That is different from treating them as objects or systems.
For fill-in-the-blank groups, say the words out loud with a likely second word. Dinner table comes quickly. Round table follows. Times table may unlock the set. Drafting table then confirms it.
And remember that a group does not need all four words to be equally familiar. Sometimes one word is the clue, one word is the trap, and two words are there to test whether you really saw the pattern. For the next puzzle, use https://fluentslang.com/nyt-connections-hints-answers-today-june-7-2026/ when you want hints before spoilers.
FAQ
What are the NYT Connections answers for June 6, 2026?
The answers are PILLAR: POLE, POST, SHAFT, STAKE; INDICATE, AS EMOTIONS: BETRAY, DISPLAY, EXPRESS, REGISTER; KINDS OF LIZARDS: BASILISK, DRAGON, MONITOR, SKINK; and ___ TABLE: DINNER, DRAFTING, ROUND, TIMES.
What was the hardest group today?
The lizard group was likely the hardest because BASILISK, DRAGON, and MONITOR all have strong non-lizard meanings. SKINK was the animal clue that helped reveal the set.
Why is monitor a lizard?
A monitor lizard is a real type of lizard. The word monitor can mean a screen or observer, but in this puzzle it belongs to the reptile category.
Why is times connected to table?
TIMES forms the phrase times table, which means a multiplication table.
Where can I find tomorrow’s Connections hints?
The next daily hub is here: https://fluentslang.com/nyt-connections-hints-answers-today-june-7-2026/.
Today’s Connections Explainers
These pages are built from the same puzzle, so they are the most relevant next reads.