TodayHint

Connections July 23, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1222)

edited by Wyna Liu.

Recap

The puzzle featured four groups of four words each, with themes ranging from everyday objects to emotional states and airport features, requiring careful consideration to categorize correctly.

The sixteen tiles

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

JANGLEINTENSEORANGEFELINEFEBRILEBASEBALLMARBLEAPRONAPPOINTTERMINALEXCITEDRUNWAYFRENETICHANGARDEPLANEGLOBE

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
    Round objects
    Green
    Emotional state
    Blue
    Airport features
    Purple
    Verb endings
  2. What linked each group, described

    Still no titles and no tiles named.

    Yellow group

    These four things are all rounded in shape and commonly found in everyday life.

    Green group

    These words all describe a heightened emotional state, often characterized by increased heart rate and alertness.

    Blue group

    These four terms are all related to specific areas or structures found at airports.

    Purple group

    These words all share a common thread in their endings, which is also a term used in a specific field of study.

  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
    8 characters
    Shortest tile
    5 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 more than one group, especially 'FELINE' and 'ORANGE' which might seem related to other categories at first glance.

  5. The four category titles

    Half the answer.

    Yellow
    SPHERICAL THINGS
    Green
    IN AN ANXIOUS STATE
    Blue
    PARTS OF AN AIRPORT
    Purple
    ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS
  6. One tile from each group

    The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.

    Yellow — SPHERICAL THINGS
    MARBLE
    Green — IN AN ANXIOUS STATE
    FEBRILE
    Blue — PARTS OF AN AIRPORT
    TERMINAL
    Purple — ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS
    JANGLE
    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

    SPHERICAL THINGS

    BASEBALL, GLOBE, MARBLE, ORANGE. The yellow group, 'SPHERICAL THINGS', consists of 'BASEBALL', 'GLOBE', 'MARBLE', and 'ORANGE', all of which are rounded objects.

  • Green group · 4 tiles

    IN AN ANXIOUS STATE

    EXCITED, FEBRILE, FRENETIC, INTENSE. The green group, 'IN AN ANXIOUS STATE', includes 'EXCITED', 'FEBRILE', 'FRENETIC', and 'INTENSE', describing heightened emotional states.

  • Blue group · 4 tiles

    PARTS OF AN AIRPORT

    APRON, HANGAR, RUNWAY, TERMINAL. The blue group, 'PARTS OF AN AIRPORT', comprises 'APRON', 'HANGAR', 'RUNWAY', and 'TERMINAL', all related to airport features.

  • Purple group · 4 tiles

    ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS

    APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, JANGLE. The purple group, 'ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS', consists of 'APPOINT', 'DEPLANE', 'FELINE', and 'JANGLE', sharing a common thread in their endings.

This board by the numbers

Puzzle
(#1222) · Thursday, July 23, 2026
Tiles
16 in a 4 × 4 grid
Groups
4, yellow to purple
Multi-word tiles
0
Longest tile
BASEBALL
Mistakes allowed
4 before the board locked

More Connections

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