A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Monday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, July 27 (game #1142).
Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you’ve finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I’ve also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc’s Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #1143) – today’s words
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- CAPTAIN
- CLARKS
- OTTOMAN
- EMPIRE
- ANNAPOLIS
- BOBSLED
- CAMPER
- DIRECT
- EVEREST
- FUJI
- GALA
- HEAD
- CONVERSE
- LEAD
- HONEYCRISP
- CROCS
NYT Connections today (game #1143) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Take charge
- GREEN: Varieties of a type of fruit
- BLUE: Footwear
- PURPLE: The same backward and forward
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…
NYT Connections today (game #1143) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: COMMAND
- GREEN: HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES
- BLUE: SHOE BRANDS STARTING WITH “C”
- PURPLE: STARTING WITH PALINDROMIC NAMES
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1143) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #1143, are…
- YELLOW: COMMAND: CAPTAIN, DIRECT, HEAD, LEAD
- GREEN: HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES: EMPIRE, FUJI, GALA, HONEYCRISP
- BLUE: SHOE BRANDS STARTING WITH “C”: CAMPER, CLARKS, CONVERSE, CROCS
- PURPLE: STARTING WITH PALINDROMIC NAMES: ANNAPOLIS, BOBSLED, EVEREST, OTTOMAN
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 mistake
I knew that HONEYCRISP and GALA were apple varieties, but I struggled to find the other pair and made a mistake picking CAPTAIN instead of FUJI.
In my defence these are unavailable in the UK, where I am based, where we are all about the Granny Smith and the Golden Delicious. HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES? Very much, actually.
After munching my way through this troublesome quartet the remaining three groups came together relatively easy, with the SHOE BRANDS STARTING WITH “C” appearing ahead of COMMAND — both of which remind me of the Clarks Commandos shoes I coveted as a small child, largely because they came with a compass in the sole; very useful for a six-year-old.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Monday, July 27, 2026, game #1142)
- YELLOW: GYMNASTICS APPARATUS: BEAM, HORSE, RINGS, VAULT
- GREEN: LONG TAPERED THINGS: CARROT, ICICLE, KNITTING NEEDLE, STALACTITE
- BLUE: KINDS OF SHIFTS: DOPPLER, GRAVEYARD, PARADIGM, STICK
- PURPLE: ICONS ON A SHOPPING SITE: BELL, CART, HEART, MAGNIFYING GLASS
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don’t technically need to solve the final one, as you’ll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What’s more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It’s a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It’s playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
