Looking for a different day?
A new NEW Connections puzzle pops up at midnight every day for your time zone – meaning some people are always playing “today’s game” while others are playing “yesterday’s”. If you’re looking for the Wednesday puzzle instead then click here: NEW Connections Hints and Answers for Wednesday, July 15 (Game #1130).
Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers into different categories. It can be difficult, so read on if you need Connections tips.
What are you going to do when you’re done? Why, play some more puns of course. I also have daily Strands Hints and Answers and Quordle Hints and Answers articles if you need help with those too, while Marc’s Wordle Today page covers the original viral pun.
SPOILER ALERT: Today’s NYT Connections information is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NEW Connections today (game #1131) – word of the day
Today’s NEW Connections word is…
- NEEDLE
- INK
- JET
- DOT MATRIX
- TONER
- POINT BREAK
- LASER
- CHARCOAL
- PEEL
- PITCH
- PERIOD SECTION
- BULL’S EYES
- STAIN REMOVER
- EYE CREAM
- Clockwork
- CLAY MASK
NEW Connections today (game #1131) – tip #1 – group tip
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Cosmetics
- PURPLE: Small beginnings
- BLUE: Seeking perfection
- GREEN: The darkness
Need more clues?
We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today’s NYT Connections puzzles…
NEW Connections today (game #1131) – tip #2 – group answer
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: SKIN CARE PRODUCTS
- PURPLE: STARTING WITH SMALL MARKS
- BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH PRECISION
- GREEN: SHADES OF BLACK
Okay, the answers are below, so DON’T SCROLL IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NEW Connections today (game #1131) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #1131, are…
- YELLOW: SKIN CARE PRODUCTS: CLAY MASK, EYE CREAM, PEEL, TONER
- PURPLE: STARTS WITH SMALL MARKS: DOT MATRIX, PERIODIC PIECE, DOT FRAGMENT, STAIN REMOVER
- BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH PRECISION: BULLSEYE, CLOCK, LASER, NEEDLE
- GREEN: SHADES OF BLACK: CHARCOAL, INK, JET, PITCH
- My assessment: Hard
- My score: 1 error
Looking at today’s game after I completed it, I don’t understand why I couldn’t see SHADES OF BLACK since that’s the only group that I could have actually gotten right.
The other three groups were the result of confused play and lucky guesses – especially STARTING WITH SMALL MARKS, which I didn’t get because I saw dot, dot, dot and dot, but because all the pieces were two words.
Before that, however, I made the mistake of putting together what I thought were four different types of printers. Hopefully I wasn’t the only player to fall into that trap, but really, it doesn’t take much to catch me.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections Answers (Wednesday, July 15, 2026, Game #1130)
- YELLOW: TERMS OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM: BAR, BENCH, COURT, COURT
- GREEN: THINGS WITH STRINGS: BASEBALL GLOVE, CORSET, FOOTBALL, SHOES
- BLUE: TYPE OF SPORT: EXTREME, ENGINE, RACKET, WATER
- PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE “SPACE” TO INDICATE EXTRA SPACE: BREATHING, ELBOW, HEAD, EFFECT
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games created by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four elements that share something in common, and each group has a different degree of difficulty: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough, and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you technically don’t need to solve the last one, as you’ll be able to answer it by a process of elimination. Also, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It’s a bit more involved than something like Wordle, though, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to let you beat yourself up with tricks. For example, watch out for homophones and other puns that can hide the answers.
It can be played for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
