NYT Connections Answer for Today, July 25, 2026

On Jul 25, 2026

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, July 25, 2026, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 25, NYT Connections #1,140! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. (If you play Wordle or Strands, check out our hints for those games, too.)

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Credit: Connections/NYT

The category types in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are spoiler-free hints that describe the type of each category in today’s Connections:

Yellow category – Related nouns.
Green category – Similar meaning.
Blue category – Related nouns.
Purple category – Fill in the blank.

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

Yellow category – Who an hombre or mujer is related to, for example.
Green category – An emotional reaction.
Blue category – They can be spent in a specific area of the world.
Purple category – They go with a word for undressing sensually.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

A heads up about the tricky parts

PRIMO is a Spanish word for “cousin.”

KWANZA is not an African holiday—it’s a currency specific to Angola.

POKER goes after a word to describe a game in which people remove clothing.

I thought there was a SIERRA ___ category (with MIST, CLUB, and LEONE), but that’s not a thing today.

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

Yellow: SPANISH RELATIVES
Green: START TO CRY, WITH “UP”
Blue: AFRICAN CURRENCIES
Purple: STRIP ___

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is SPANISH RELATIVES and the words are: ABUELA, HIJO, MADRE, PRIMO.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is START TO CRY, WITH “UP” and the words are: CHOKE, MIST, TEAR, WELL.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is AFRICAN CURRENCIES and the words are: KWANZA, LEONE, NAIRA, RAND.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is STRIP ___ and the words are: CLUB, MALL, POKER, STEAK.

How I solved today’s Connections

At first I thought PRIMO referred to something of high quality, but after looking at the rest of the puzzle I think it goes with MADRE, HIJO, and ABUELA as Spanish words for family members: cousin, mom, son, and grandma. 🟨

LEONE could go with “Sierra” to make the name of an African country. “Sierra” could also go before CLUB to make the name of an environmental organization. Sierra MIST is a soda. Is there a fourth? I’ll come back to that.

What do you think so far?

Oh, maybe CHOKE, TEAR, MIST, and WELL are all words for crying when they are followed by “up”: CHOKE up, TEAR up, etc. 🟩

NAIRA is an odd one—I have no idea what that could mean or go with. It starts with “Nair,” a hair removal cream. It also has “air” in the middle. Oh, I just Googled it: It’s Nigerian currency. RAND is also an African currency specific to South Africa. LEONE is the currency of Sierra LEONE. And KWANZA is the currency of Angola. 🟦

That leaves CLUB, STEAK, POKER, and MALL. This is probably a fill-in-the-blank category, but nothing’s coming to me yet. MALL cop, POKER hand, cooked STEAK. Let’s see. 🟪 Oh, of course, it’s STRIP ___.

Connections
Puzzle #1140
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How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Games app (formerly the Crossword app). You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.

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