Connections July 11, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1214)
Recap
The connections between the cards were based on unique themes, including equipment used in a circus, descriptors of calm water, characters from a popular animated film, and words featuring double letters in a specific alphabetical position.
The sixteen tiles
The sixteen tiles as dealt. Reveal a group below to tint and caption its tiles here.
Connections hints, one rung at a time
Six rungs, softest first. The recap above already named the groups, so this ladder is here for anyone replaying the board fresh rather than as a spoiler shield.
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Hint 1: Four one-line nudges, one per group
The softest hint there is.
- Yellow
- Acrobatic tools
- Green
- Water's surface
- Blue
- Beloved characters
- Purple
- Alphabet quirks
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Hint 2: What linked each group, described
Still no titles and no tiles named.
Yellow group
These items are used for thrilling performances
Green group
These words describe a peaceful body of water
Blue group
These names are associated with a popular animated film
Purple group
These words feature double letters in a unique way
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Hint 3: Board facts
Counted off the sixteen printed tiles.
Sixteen tiles, four groups of four, ordered yellow → green → blue → purple from most to least obvious. 1 of the sixteen tile was more than one word.
- Tiles
- 16 across 4 groups
- Longest tile
- 8 characters
- Shortest tile
- 4 characters
- Multi-word tiles
- 1
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Hint 4: The trap on this board
Which tiles pulled in two directions.
Some cards could fit into multiple categories at first glance. Be cautious with words that have multiple meanings or associations, such as 'calm' or 'slinky'.
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Hint 5: The four category titles
Half the answer.
- Yellow
- CIRCUS EQUIPMENT
- Green
- UNDISTURBED, AS WATER
- Blue
- "TOY STORY" CHARACTERS
- Purple
- DOUBLE LETTERS APPEARING IN THAT LETTER'S ALPHABETICAL POSITION
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Hint 6: One tile from each group
The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.
- Yellow — CIRCUS EQUIPMENT
- TRAPEZE
- Green — UNDISTURBED, AS WATER
- GLASSY
- Blue — "TOY STORY" CHARACTERS
- BO PEEP
- Purple — DOUBLE LETTERS APPEARING IN THAT LETTER'S ALPHABETICAL POSITION
- TWIDDLE
Every Connections group from that board
All four groups, folded. Opening one tints its four tiles above and captions them with the category name.
Yellow group · 4 tiles
CIRCUS EQUIPMENT
CANNON, STILTS, TRAPEZE, UNICYCLE. The yellow group, 'CIRCUS EQUIPMENT', consists of 'CANNON', 'STILTS', 'TRAPEZE', and 'UNICYCLE'.
Green group · 4 tiles
UNDISTURBED, AS WATER
CALM, FLAT, GLASSY, STILL. The green group, 'UNDISTURBED, AS WATER', consists of 'CALM', 'FLAT', 'GLASSY', and 'STILL'.
Blue group · 4 tiles
"TOY STORY" CHARACTERS
BO PEEP, JESSIE, SLINKY, WOODY. The blue group, 'TOY STORY' CHARACTERS', consists of 'BO PEEP', 'JESSIE', 'SLINKY', and 'WOODY'.
Purple group · 4 tiles
DOUBLE LETTERS APPEARING IN THAT LETTER'S ALPHABETICAL POSITION
AARDVARK, BOCCE, EBBING, TWIDDLE. The purple group, 'DOUBLE LETTERS APPEARING IN THAT LETTER'S ALPHABETICAL POSITION', consists of 'AARDVARK', 'BOCCE', 'EBBING', and 'TWIDDLE'.
This board by the numbers
- Puzzle
- (#1214) · Saturday, July 11, 2026
- Tiles
- 16 in a 4 × 4 grid
- Groups
- 4, yellow to purple
- Multi-word tiles
- 1
- Longest tile
- UNICYCLE
- Mistakes allowed
- 4 before the board locked
More Connections
See the live Connections hints and answers page for the current board, or browse every archived Connections date by month.
Try the other two puzzles
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The live NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers page
Six theme words plus the spangram, with a read-only board that traces each answer.
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The live NYT Pips hints and answers page
Easy, medium and hard boards with domino inventories and full walkthroughs.