NYT Connections Hints and Answers for June 13, 2025 — Today’s Puzzle Clues & Tips

With “NYT Connections” puzzle #733 dropping at midnight, word-game fans woke up hunting for fresh clues to keep their winning streaks alive. If you’re stuck on today’s grid—or just want to confirm your instincts—here are the authoritative hints, category breakdowns and full answers for Friday, June 13, along with strategic tips to help you solve future puzzles faster. Why today’s puzzle is tricky Puzzle #733 tosses in several double-duty words, the kind that appear to fit more than one category. That makes the early moves critical: each wrong set costs a life, and you only get four. Focus on obvious links first, then look for the sneaky wordplay often reserved for the final purple group. Quick-scan hints (stop here to avoid spoilers) 🟨 We all have our own way of looking at things 🟩 Like a register or freezer 🟦 Late-’90s earworms you couldn’t escape 🟪 Donna Summer thought these were “hot,” and so did a certain chocolate brand Need one anchor word per group? • LENS • CONE • IRIS • ROD Full category reveals • Perspective • Items you see at an ice-cream counter • Hit songs from 1998 • “Hot ___” expressions Complete answers for June 13 (Puzzle #733) 🟨 Perspective: ANGLE, BENT, LENS, POINT OF VIEW 🟩 Ice-cream counter: CONE, CUP, LITTLE SPOON, SCOOP 🟦 1998 hits: CLOSING TIME, IRIS, ONE WEEK, TOO CLOSE 🟪 “Hot ___”: DOG, POTATO, ROD, WATER BOTTLE Strategy spotlight: how to spot the trick groups 1. Track the year: When a puzzle references pop-culture, pin down a single era. Recognizing 1998 hit singles instantly carved out the blue set today, echoing expert advice from daily Connections columns. 2. Look for merch themes: Words like CONE, CUP and SCOOP frequently appear together in everyday shopping or food contexts, a staple tactic the Times uses to form its green-difficulty groups. 3. Reserve lives for purple: The final, pun-heavy set usually hinges on a common prefix or suffix—“hot” this time—so hold at least two lives before attempting it. What’s next for the weekend? NYT releases a fresh grid every midnight local time, and paid subscribers can dive into the growing archive for extra practice. Expect Saturday’s puzzle to keep the momentum going; Fridays often test lateral thinking, while weekend grids skew either easier (Saturday) or devilishly hard (Sunday), mirroring the traditional crossword cadence. Bottom line Whether you solved solo or leaned on these June 13 hints, puzzle #733 offered a balanced mix of pop culture, everyday objects and classic wordplay. Bookmark this page for daily “NYT Connections” hints and answer summaries—an essential edge for preserving those precious streaks.