The NYT Connections puzzle for Tuesday, July 14, 2026, is #1129. All four group answers are below.
Three spoiler-free hints come first for solvers still working through the board.
Hint 1: The yellow group contains four words that all mean the same type of formal agreement. None is being used as a verb here.
Hint 2: One group puts four words together that each precede the same everyday object. The object itself never appears on the board.
Hint 3: The purple group is about symbols, not words. Think about what appears on signs, screens, and packaging rather than what the words literally mean.
Yellow – Contract
AGREEMENT, BARGAIN, DEAL, UNDERSTANDING
Green – Edit Menu Options
COPY, CUT, DELETE, PASTE
Blue – Kinds of Baskets
EASTER, GROCERY, LAUNDRY, PICNIC
Purple – Symbolized With Arrows
RECYCLING, SHUFFLE, THIS SIDE UP, U-TURN
The green group is today’s central trap. COPY, CUT, DELETE, and PASTE are four of the most familiar commands in any word processor or browser – Edit menu options that most people trigger dozens of times daily via keyboard shortcuts. On the Connections board, each one reads as a standalone verb: CUT suggests scissors or a price reduction; PASTE suggests glue or a food preparation step; DELETE suggests removal; COPY suggests a duplicate or a journalistic draft. The edit-menu frame only snaps into focus once a solver stops reading the words individually and starts asking what ties them as a set. That’s a well-constructed green-level misdirection: the category is obvious in retrospect and genuinely tricky in the moment.
The blue basket group hides its connector the same way. EASTER, GROCERY, LAUNDRY, and PICNIC all function as adjectives – Easter weekend, grocery shopping, laundry day, picnic weather. The word basket never appears. Solvers anchored on holiday (EASTER), chores (GROCERY, LAUNDRY), or leisure (PICNIC) will fragment the group across several false categories before the basket compound clicks. EASTER BASKET and PICNIC BASKET are the most familiar pairs; LAUNDRY BASKET and GROCERY BASKET complete the set once the pattern is visible.
Purple requires visual rather than verbal thinking. The recycling symbol is three chasing arrows. The shuffle button on any music app displays two crossing arrows. A “This Side Up” shipping label carries an upward arrow. A U-turn sign is a curved arrow. None of the four words look related on the surface – RECYCLING, SHUFFLE, THIS SIDE UP, U-TURN span four entirely separate domains – which makes arrows as the connector a genuine purple-level surprise.
Yellow is the anchor group. AGREEMENT, BARGAIN, DEAL, and UNDERSTANDING are four synonyms for a contract or formal accord. DEAL might pull toward the green group given its presence as a business verb, but the category holds tightly once the edit-menu frame is established elsewhere.
Yesterday’s Connections puzzle (#1128, July 13, 2026) is solved in our July 13 Connections answer guide. Tuesday’s Wordle #1851 answer is also live. NYT Connections resets daily at midnight ET.
