If you’re a fan of ‘90s rock music, you may have locked in your first guess in today’s Connections puzzle right away. Sadly, ‘Song titles from The Cranberries’ is not a valid category today. If you have limited attempts left, we recommend taking a look at our hints before locking in another answer. If you’re on your last attempt, you can find the answer key at the bottom of the page to secure your streak. So, without further ado, here are all the hints, clues, and answers to today’s NYT Connections (#1,119, July 4, 2026).
In This Article
What is Connections?
The New York Times has a thriving online word game section, with Connections being the second-most-played title behind the crown jewel, Wordle. The rules of this game are simple – you need to find 4 groups comprising 4 words each in a 16-word grid. The words in each group are united by a common theme. The Yellow group is the easiest one to spot, followed by Green, Blue, and Purple (toughest). Sometimes, there are red herrings and misdirects in the grid to throw you off your game, so don’t take your thinking cap off at any time! Ready to lock in? You can play Connections in the NYT Games app or on the NYT website.
Some tips to solve Connections
Look for the obvious patterns: Not every category in the puzzle is confusing. The Yellow and Green category words are relatively easy to spot. However, if something seems too obvious, it could be a red herring. Typically, the first two categories comprise verbs and adjectives. The misdirects are often nouns.
Double-check your submissions: ‘Do not overthink’ is usually a good tip for solving most puzzles, but it doesn’t really apply to Connections. Before submitting a set of words, you should always check whether they fit somewhere else too.
Hit a dead end? Use the shuffle button: The shuffle button at the bottom of the grid exists for a reason. Placing the words in different positions can spark new connections. Think of it as a mental refresh. New patterns will emerge, and you may be able to find a breakthrough.
Tackle the Purple category with extra caution: The Connections team is known to serve up the toughest and most unexpected words for the Purple category. Here are some of the common tropes that you should look out for:
- Homophones (For example: ‘Where’, ‘Wear’, ‘Ware’, and ‘Weir’)
- Words within words (For example: ‘Slip’, ‘Hear’, ‘Keyes’, and ‘Undiagnosed’ could be ‘Words containing parts of the face’)
- Words minus a letter (For example: ‘Anther’, ‘Easel’, ‘Hark’, and ‘Lama’ could be ‘Animals minus starting letter’)
- Words preceded or followed by another word (For example: ‘Face’, ‘Sports’, ‘Note’, and ‘Year’ could be ‘____ Book’)
Here’s your grid for today
- LINGER
- SPOT
- EPIC
- DREAMS
- ZOMBIE
- ODE
- PEA
- SCORPION
- LAST
- HURRICANE
- NOTHINGS
- STAY
- BALLAD
- CONTINUE
- PAINKILLER
- VILLANELLE
Hints for NYT Connections (#1,119) July 4, 2026
Let’s get you started with some general, spoiler-free hints.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Endure or Persevere.
- 🟢Green Group: Structural, thematic, and narrative structure of a specific literary composition.
- 🔵Blue Group: Cocktails.
- 🟣Purple Group: Preceded by the synonym for sugary.
One Word Per Category (Contains Spoilers)
Can’t seem to find an in? We’ll give you one word from each category.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Continue.
- 🟢Green Group: Ballad.
- 🔵Blue Group: Hurricane.
- 🟣Purple Group: Dreams.
List of Themes (Major Spoilers)
Maybe getting to know the common themes among the words will help you spot them faster. Here are all the categories for today.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Persist.
- 🟢Green Group: Kinds Of Poems.
- 🔵Blue Group: Tropical Drinks.
- 🟣Purple Group: Sweet ___.
Answers to NYT Connections (#1,119) Today (Date)
Close to waving the white flag? Fine, we’ll give you the answers.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Continue, Last, Linger, Stay. (Persist)
This one was pretty straightforward. These words describe things that endure or persevere.
- 🟢Green Group: Ballad, Epic, Ode, Villanelle. (Kinds Of Poems)
A ballad is a four-stanza poem that tells a story. An epic is a poem with a long, heroic narrative. An ode is a short poem typically written to glorify a person, place, or thing. A villanelle is a poem that adheres to a 19-line structure with 2 repeating rhymes, 2 refrains, and a final quatrain.
- 🔵Blue Group: Hurricane, Painkiller, Scorpion, Zombie. (Tropical Drinks)
This is a self-explanatory group. All these words are names for tropical cocktails.
- 🟣Purple Group: Dreams, Nothings, Pea, Spot. (Sweet ___)
The big red herring in today’s puzzle was songs released by The Cranberries in the 1990s. Dreams, Zombie, Linger, and Ode (to my family) are all popular songs from the band.
Answers to yesterday’s puzzle (#1,118, July 3, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Bliss, Felicity, Happiness, Warm Fuzzies. (Positive Feelings)
- 🟢Green Group: Cool Beans, Far Out, Groovy, Right On. (Retro Expressions Of Approval)
- 🔵Blue Group: Cold Shoulder, Dirty Look, Hard Time, Runaround. (Bad Things To Give Someone)
- 🟣Purple Group: Golf Accessory, Gossip, Hot Drink, Shirt. (What Things Pronounced ‘T’ Might Refer To)
Answers to NYT Connections #1,117 (July 2, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Copycat, Mime, Mockingbird, T-1000. (They Impersonate Other Things)
- 🟢Green Group: Looking Glass, Spectacles, Talkie, Water Closet. (Old-Timey Names For Things We Still Use)
- 🔵Blue Group: Billy Goat, Dan Dan Noodles, Rich Text, Tom-Tom. (Starting With Nicknames)
- 🟣Purple Group: Court Jester, Diamond Ring, Field Mouse, Track Record. (Starting With Sports Venues)
Answers to NYT Connections #1,116 (July 1, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Champagne, China, Cologne, Limerick. (Things Named After Places)
- 🟢Green Group: Casablanca, Chicago, Fargo, Munich. (Best Picture Winners/Nominees)
- 🔵Blue Group: Cuba, Long Island, Moscow, Singapore. (Places In Cocktail Names)
- 🟣Purple Group: Dominican Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Indianapolis, Nigeria. (Starting With Countries)
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How did other solvers do today?
NYT’s early testers rated today’s Connection puzzle 1.5 out of 5. This puts it in the easy difficulty level. Let us know how you fared in the comments!
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