TodayHint

Connections July 12, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1213)

edited by Wyna Liu.

Recap

The puzzle featured four groups of four words each, ranging from fruit parts and candy pieces to college life verbs and US capital starts.

The sixteen tiles

The sixteen tiles as dealt. Reveal a group below to tint and caption its tiles here.

PARTYNERDMADSTONEDOTDENPIPSTUDYPHOSPREESLEEPPITRUNTSACSEEDREPEAT

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.

  1. Four one-line nudges, one per group

    The softest hint there is.

    Yellow
    Fruit anatomy
    Green
    Candy pieces
    Blue
    College life
    Purple
    Capital clues
  2. What linked each group, described

    Still no titles and no tiles named.

    Yellow group

    These terms refer to a specific part of certain fruits, often discarded or used for planting.

    Green group

    These words describe small, individual sweets often associated with fruit flavors.

    Blue group

    These verbs might be found in a slogan encouraging students to balance their university experience.

    Purple group

    These phrases represent the beginnings of names of cities that serve as state capitals in the United States.

  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. Every tile was a single word.

    Tiles
    16 across 4 groups
    Longest tile
    6 characters
    Shortest tile
    3 characters
    Multi-word tiles
    0
    Back to the sixteen tiles
  4. The trap on this board

    Which tiles pulled in two directions.

    Some cards could fit into multiple categories at first glance, especially those with common words like 'PARTY' or 'STONE'. Be cautious not to confuse their roles.

  5. The four category titles

    Half the answer.

    Yellow
    REPRODUCTIVE PART OF FRUIT
    Green
    BIT OF FRUIT-FLAVORED CANDY
    Blue
    VERBS IN A COLLEGE LIFE SLOGAN
    Purple
    STARTS OF U.S. CAPITALS
  6. One tile from each group

    The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.

    Yellow — REPRODUCTIVE PART OF FRUIT
    STONE
    Green — BIT OF FRUIT-FLAVORED CANDY
    SPREE
    Blue — VERBS IN A COLLEGE LIFE SLOGAN
    REPEAT
    Purple — STARTS OF U.S. CAPITALS
    PHO
    Open the full groupings

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

    REPRODUCTIVE PART OF FRUIT

    PIP, PIT, SEED, STONE. The yellow group, 'REPRODUCTIVE PART OF FRUIT', consists of 'PIP', 'PIT', 'SEED', 'STONE'.

  • Green group · 4 tiles

    BIT OF FRUIT-FLAVORED CANDY

    DOT, NERD, RUNT, SPREE. The green group, 'BIT OF FRUIT-FLAVORED CANDY', consists of 'DOT', 'NERD', 'RUNT', 'SPREE'.

  • Blue group · 4 tiles

    VERBS IN A COLLEGE LIFE SLOGAN

    PARTY, REPEAT, SLEEP, STUDY. The blue group, 'VERBS IN A COLLEGE LIFE SLOGAN', consists of 'PARTY', 'REPEAT', 'SLEEP', 'STUDY'.

  • Purple group · 4 tiles

    STARTS OF U.S. CAPITALS

    DEN, MAD, PHO, SAC. The purple group, 'STARTS OF U.S. CAPITALS', consists of 'DEN', 'MAD', 'PHO', 'SAC'.

This board by the numbers

Puzzle
(#1213) · Sunday, July 12, 2026
Tiles
16 in a 4 × 4 grid
Groups
4, yellow to purple
Multi-word tiles
0
Longest tile
REPEAT
Mistakes allowed
4 before the board locked

More Connections

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