Connections July 20, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1211)
Recap
The groups were well-distributed in difficulty, from loud announcements to clickable items, pearl associations, and drink beginnings.
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
- Loud voices
- Green
- Clickable items
- Blue
- Pearl connections
- Purple
- Drink beginnings
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Hint 2: What linked each group, described
Still no titles and no tiles named.
Yellow group
These words all relate to making a loud noise or announcement in some way.
Green group
These terms all describe things you might click on a computer or device.
Blue group
These phrases all have a connection to pearls, but not in an obvious way.
Purple group
These words all start with terms for types of alcoholic drinks or related concepts.
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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
- 10 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 like Oyster and Link.
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Hint 5: The four category titles
Half the answer.
- Yellow
- ANNOUNCE
- Green
- THINGS TO CLICK
- Blue
- ASSOCIATED WITH PEARLS
- Purple
- STARTING WITH ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
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Hint 6: One tile from each group
The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.
- Yellow — ANNOUNCE
- TRUMPET
- Green — THINGS TO CLICK
- MENU
- Blue — ASSOCIATED WITH PEARLS
- SWINE
- Purple — STARTING WITH ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
- MEADOW
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
ANNOUNCE
BLARE, HERALD, SOUND, TRUMPET. The yellow group, 'ANNOUNCE', includes BLARE, HERALD, SOUND, and TRUMPET, all related to making announcements or loud noises.
Green group · 4 tiles
THINGS TO CLICK
BUTTON, ICON, LINK, MENU. The green group, 'THINGS TO CLICK', consists of BUTTON, ICON, LINK, and MENU, all clickable items on a computer.
Blue group · 4 tiles
ASSOCIATED WITH PEARLS
BUBBLE TEA, OYSTER, SWINE, WISDOM. The blue group, 'ASSOCIATED WITH PEARLS', comprises BUBBLE TEA, OYSTER, SWINE, and WISDOM, all connected to pearls in different ways.
Purple group · 4 tiles
STARTING WITH ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
ALEXA, MEADOW, PORTOBELLO, SAKES. The purple group, 'STARTING WITH ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES', includes ALEXA, MEADOW, PORTOBELLO, and SAKES, all starting with drink-related terms.
This board by the numbers
- Puzzle
- (#1211) · Monday, July 20, 2026
- Tiles
- 16 in a 4 × 4 grid
- Groups
- 4, yellow to purple
- Multi-word tiles
- 1
- Longest tile
- BUBBLE TEA
- 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.