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Connections July 25, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1221)

edited by Wyna Liu.

Recap

The groups were well-distributed in difficulty. Solvers had an easy time with family terms but struggled with some of the lesser-known currencies and venue names.

The sixteen tiles

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

STEAKLEONEPRIMOMALLMADREMISTPOKERCHOKECLUBRANDTEARNAIRAHIJOKWANZAWELLABUELA

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
    Family Terms
    Green
    Crying Sounds
    Blue
    Money Matters
    Purple
    Entertainment Places
  2. What linked each group, described

    Still no titles and no tiles named.

    Yellow group

    These words are used to describe relatives in a specific language.

    Green group

    These words can be combined with 'up' to describe starting to cry.

    Blue group

    These currencies are used in various countries on a specific continent.

    Purple group

    These words are part of the names of popular venues or games.

  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
    4 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, but be careful: KWANZA, LEONE, Naira, and RAND are definitely related to one continent, while ABUELA, HIJO, MADRE, and PRIMO describe family in one language. Meanwhile, CHOKE, MIST, TEAR, and WELL all relate to crying when combined with 'up'.

  5. The four category titles

    Half the answer.

    Yellow
    SPANISH RELATIVES
    Green
    START TO CRY, WITH "UP"
    Blue
    AFRICAN CURRENCIES
    Purple
    STRIP ___
  6. One tile from each group

    The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.

    Yellow — SPANISH RELATIVES
    PRIMO
    Green — START TO CRY, WITH "UP"
    MIST
    Blue — AFRICAN CURRENCIES
    LEONE
    Purple — STRIP ___
    POKER
    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

    SPANISH RELATIVES

    ABUELA, HIJO, MADRE, PRIMO. The yellow group, SPANISH RELATIVES, consists of ABUELA, HIJO, MADRE, and PRIMO.

  • Green group · 4 tiles

    START TO CRY, WITH "UP"

    CHOKE, MIST, TEAR, WELL. The green group, START TO CRY, WITH "UP", consists of CHOKE, MIST, TEAR, and WELL.

  • Blue group · 4 tiles

    AFRICAN CURRENCIES

    KWANZA, LEONE, NAIRA, RAND. The blue group, AFRICAN CURRENCIES, consists of KWANZA, LEONE, NAIRA, and RAND.

  • Purple group · 4 tiles

    STRIP ___

    CLUB, MALL, POKER, STEAK. The purple group, STRIP ___, consists of CLUB, MALL, POKER, and STEAK.

This board by the numbers

Puzzle
(#1221) · Saturday, July 25, 2026
Tiles
16 in a 4 × 4 grid
Groups
4, yellow to purple
Multi-word tiles
0
Longest tile
ABUELA
Mistakes allowed
4 before the board locked

More Connections

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