Game #1136, played on July 21, delivers a tidy board with a mix of clothing, software and music-related words that should give Connections regulars a fast start. The sixteen tiles include obvious clusters and a single sneaky set that separates quick solvers from the rest.
Today’s board rewards pattern recognition and resisting the urge to group by surface meanings — that’s where the decoys live.
SPOILER WARNING: From here on out I name the groups and the exact answers for NYT Connections Game #1136 (2026-07-21). If you haven’t finished the puzzle and want to play blind, stop reading now.
Today’s NYT Connections words
Here are the 16 words on the board today.
- MUSIC | GRAM | DRIVER | VISION
- TUBE | CROP | BOOK | APP
- ORCHESTRATION | EXTENSION | TANK | KINESIS
- PROMPTER | HALTER | LYRICS | PLUGIN
Today’s NYT Connections hints
One-line, spoiler-light nudges for each group.
- 🟡 Yellow: Think items you wear on the upper body — short and long varieties.
- 🟢 Green: Pieces you download or install to make software do more.
- 🔵 Blue: Core components you’d expect in a stage musical’s production and score.
- 🟣 Purple: Add the prefix “tele” to each to make familiar compound words.
Today’s NYT Connections group titles
- 🟡 Yellow: KINDS OF TOPS
- 🟢 Green: SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS
- 🔵 Blue: ELEMENTS OF A MUSICAL
- 🟣 Purple: TELE___
What are today’s NYT Connections answers?
Below are the four groups and their exact members.
| Colour | Group | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 🟡 Yellow | KINDS OF TOPS | CROP, HALTER, TANK, TUBE |
| 🟢 Green | SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS | APP, DRIVER, EXTENSION, PLUGIN |
| 🔵 Blue | ELEMENTS OF A MUSICAL | BOOK, LYRICS, MUSIC, ORCHESTRATION |
| 🟣 Purple | TELE___ | GRAM, KINESIS, PROMPTER, VISION |
Today’s Connections — expert analysis
The clear entry point was the yellow set: CROP, HALTER, TUBE and TANK all attach to “top” immediately, and those four are visually and semantically tight. If you spot HALTER or TUBE early, the rest follow quickly — that cluster was the easiest on the board.
The toughest group was the purple TELE___ set. GRAM and KINESIS are short and ambiguous on their own — GRAM could point to Instagram or a unit of weight, and KINESIS is less common outside the phrase “telekinesis.” PROMPTER and VISION are clearer once you think “teleprompter” and “television,” but until that prefix clicks the group hides in plain sight. The main decoys to watch: DRIVER, EXTENSION and PLUGIN all scream “tech” but also tempt you toward hardware or physical meanings (driver, extension as hair), while BOOK and APP could both lure you into a “reading” or “software” theme; here APP and PLUGIN belong together in the software downloads set with DRIVER and EXTENSION. If you’re stuck on your first safe guess, pick HALTER (or CROP) to lock in the yellow set and eliminate several misleading associations at once.
Difficulty: 3.5/5 — a couple of very obvious clusters plus one deliberately ambiguous prefix set.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Game #1135)
Quick recap of Game #1135’s solutions.
- 🟡 Yellow (ANNOUNCE): BLARE, HERALD, SOUND, TRUMPET
- 🟢 Green (THINGS TO CLICK): BUTTON, ICON, LINK, MENU
- 🔵 Blue (ASSOCIATED WITH PEARLS): BUBBLE TEA, OYSTER, SWINE, WISDOM
- 🟣 Purple (STARTING WITH ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES): ALEXA, MEADOW, PORTOBELLO, SAKES
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is a daily word-grouping puzzle where you sort 16 words into four related groups of four. The trick is spotting the theme that binds each quartet while avoiding tempting false groupings.
How to play NYT Connections
- Scan the full board and look for near-immediate matches (the fastest wins are pattern recognition).
- Select four words you think form a group; if they’re correct they lock in and reveal fewer options.
- Repeat until all four groups are found or you run out of guesses; beware decoys and overlapping meanings.
Past week’s NYT Connections answers
Missed a day? Full solutions from earlier this week, newest first.
Game #1134 — July 19
- 🟡 CIRCUIT COMPONENTS: BREAKER, FUSE, RELAY, SWITCH
- 🟢 DIGITAL COUPLING VERBS: CONNECT, JOIN, PAIR, SYNC
- 🔵 THINGS TOILETS DO: DRAIN, FLUSH, REFILL, SWIRL
- 🟣 ___ FACE EXPRESSIONS: GAME, LONG, POKER, STRAIGHT
Game #1133 — July 18
- 🟡 COMMIT A BASKETBALL VIOLATION: CARRY, DOUBLE DRIBBLE, GOALTEND, TRAVEL
- 🟢 BELIEF: ATTITUDE, MIND, OPINION, VIEW
- 🔵 THINGS TRACKED IN VIDEO GAMES: HEALTH, LIVES, SCORE, TIME
- 🟣 WORDS AFTER “POP”: CULTURE, FLY, QUIZ, TART
Game #1132 — July 17
- 🟡 GRAND FINALE: EPILOGUE, FAREWELL, LAST DANCE, SWAN SONG
- 🟢 SEEN IN AN ARCADE: CRANE GAME, PINBALL, TICKETS, TOKENS
- 🔵 FOUR GROUPS OF FOUR: CARDINAL DIRECTIONS, CLASSICAL ELEMENTS, SEASONS, SUITS
- 🟣 ENDING IN PARTS OF A CAR: PLOT SPOILER, ROBIN HOOD, SATIRES, TREE TRUNK
Game #1131 — July 16
- 🟡 SKINCARE PRODUCTS: CLAY MASK, EYE CREAM, PEEL, TONER
- 🟢 SHADES OF BLACK: CHARCOAL, INK, JET, PITCH
- 🔵 ASSOCIATED WITH PRECISION: BULLSEYE, CLOCKWORK, LASER, NEEDLE
- 🟣 STARTING WITH TINY MARKS: DOT MATRIX, PERIOD PIECE, POINT BREAK, SPOT REMOVER
Game #1130 — July 15
- 🟡 TERMS FOR THE LEGAL SYSTEM: BAR, BENCH, COURT, TRIBUNAL
- 🟢 THINGS WITH LACES: BASEBALL GLOVE, CORSET, FOOTBALL, SHOE
- 🔵 KINDS OF SPORTS: EXTREME, MOTOR, RACKET, WATER
- 🟣 WORDS BEFORE “ROOM” TO INDICATE EXTRA SPACE: BREATHING, ELBOW, HEAD, WIGGLE
Game #1129 — July 14
- 🟡 CONTRACT: AGREEMENT, BARGAIN, DEAL, UNDERSTANDING
- 🟢 EDIT MENU OPTIONS: COPY, CUT, DELETE, PASTE
- 🔵 KINDS OF BASKETS: EASTER, GROCERY, LAUNDRY, PICNIC
- 🟣 SYMBOLIZED WITH ARROWS: RECYCLING, SHUFFLE, THIS SIDE UP, U-TURN
More daily puzzle help from HashTechWave
- Today’s NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers
- Today’s NYT Spelling Bee answers and pangram
- Today’s Wordle hints, clues and answer
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What time does a new NYT Connections puzzle unlock?
A brand-new puzzle drops every single night at midnight local time across your specific region’s time zone on NYT Connection official site.
Why do some words seem to fit into two different groups?
The puzzle is specifically designed to include “decoys” or overlapping vocabulary. Always look for a backup configuration of words before locking in an early guess to protect your attempt counter.
Can I review answers to older puzzles?
Yes — we keep the past week of solutions right here on this page. Scroll up to the “Past week’s NYT Connections answers” section for every recent grid, newest first, plus a full breakdown of yesterday’s puzzle.
