TodayHint

Connections July 28, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1227)

edited by Wyna Liu.

Recap

The puzzle featured four groups of four words each, with connections ranging from leadership terms to apple varieties, shoe brands, and geographic names with palindromic properties.

The sixteen tiles

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

CAPTAINCLARKSOTTOMANEMPIREANNAPOLISBOBSLEDCAMPERDIRECTEVERESTFUJIGALAHEADCONVERSELEADHONEYCRISPCROCS

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
    Leadership term
    Green
    Apple varieties
    Blue
    Footwear brands
    Purple
    Geographic names
  2. What linked each group, described

    Still no titles and no tiles named.

    Yellow group

    These words all relate to being in charge or in a position of authority.

    Green group

    These are all names of popular types of apples.

    Blue group

    These companies are all known for making shoes, and they all start with the letter C.

    Purple group

    These places all have names that read the same way forwards and backwards.

  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
    10 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 more than one group, especially those that are common words or names, like 'lead' or 'Fuji'. Be careful not to confuse the categories.

  5. The four category titles

    Half the answer.

    Yellow
    COMMAND
    Green
    HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES
    Blue
    SHOE BRANDS STARTING WITH "C"
    Purple
    STARTING WITH PALINDROMIC NAMES
  6. One tile from each group

    The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.

    Yellow — COMMAND
    DIRECT
    Green — HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES
    HONEYCRISP
    Blue — SHOE BRANDS STARTING WITH "C"
    CONVERSE
    Purple — STARTING WITH PALINDROMIC NAMES
    BOBSLED
    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

    COMMAND

    CAPTAIN, DIRECT, HEAD, LEAD. The yellow group, 'COMMAND', consists of the words 'CAPTAIN', 'DIRECT', 'HEAD', 'LEAD'.

  • Green group · 4 tiles

    HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES

    EMPIRE, FUJI, GALA, HONEYCRISP. The green group, 'HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES', consists of the words 'EMPIRE', 'FUJI', 'GALA', 'HONEYCRISP'.

  • Blue group · 4 tiles

    SHOE BRANDS STARTING WITH "C"

    CAMPER, CLARKS, CONVERSE, CROCS. The blue group, 'SHOE BRANDS STARTING WITH "C"', consists of the words 'CAMPER', 'CLARKS', 'CONVERSE', 'CROCS'.

  • Purple group · 4 tiles

    STARTING WITH PALINDROMIC NAMES

    ANNAPOLIS, BOBSLED, EVEREST, OTTOMAN. The purple group, 'STARTING WITH PALINDROMIC NAMES', consists of the words 'ANNAPOLIS', 'BOBSLED', 'EVEREST', 'OTTOMAN'.

This board by the numbers

Puzzle
(#1227) · Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Tiles
16 in a 4 × 4 grid
Groups
4, yellow to purple
Multi-word tiles
0
Longest tile
HONEYCRISP
Mistakes allowed
4 before the board locked

More Connections

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