NYT Connections Answer

Another day, another challenge from Wyna Liu! If you’re tackling the NYT Connections puzzle for July 31, 2026, you might find yourself scratching your head at a few of these groupings. Today’s puzzle features a mix of classic synonyms, video game nostalgia, and some very clever "hidden word" trickery.

If you are looking for a NYT Connections hint or the full answer for 2026-07-31, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s break it down category by category.

Hints for Today's Connections

Before we reveal the groups, here are some nudges to help you solve it yourself:

• Yellow Group: All these words describe the act of giving something a physical form.
• Green Group: Think of the Mushroom Kingdom and its most famous inhabitants.
• Blue Group: If you remove the first letter of each word, you’ll find something healthy to eat.
• Purple Group: Look at the first half of these words—they all describe a feeling of happiness or celebration.

Yellow: CONSTRUCT

This category is relatively straightforward. All four words are verbs that mean to create, build, or give a specific form to an object.

• FASHION: To make into a particular form (e.g., "to fashion a tool from stone").
• MODEL: To shape a figure out of a material like clay.
• MOLD: To give shape to something using a container.
• SHAPE: To give a particular external form to something.

Green: SUPER MARIO FIGURES

If you grew up playing Nintendo, this one likely jumped out at you. These are descriptors for the main cast of the Super Mario universe.

• DINOSAUR: Refers to Yoshi.
• MUSHROOM: Refers to Toad (or the Super Mushroom power-up).
• PLUMBER: Refers to the legendary Mario and Luigi.
• PRINCESS: Refers to Princess Peach or Princess Daisy.

Blue: FRUITS PLUS STARTING LETTER

This is where the puzzle gets tricky. Each of these words is a common fruit with exactly one letter added to the beginning.

• DAPPLE: D + APPLE
• JDATE: J + DATE (Jdate is a well-known niche dating site).
• SLIME: S + LIME
• SPEAR: S + PEAR

Purple: STARTING WITH MERRIMENTS

The Purple category is often the most abstract. Today, it focuses on compound words or longer words where the prefix (or the first part) is a synonym for joy or fun.

• CHEERIOS: Starts with CHEER.
• FUNGUS: Starts with FUN.
• GLEEK: Starts with GLEE (A "Gleek" is a term for a fan of the TV show Glee).
• JOYSTICK: Starts with JOY.

Answer for 2026-07-31

If you just want the quick list of groups and their words for today's puzzle:

• CONSTRUCT: FASHION, MODEL, MOLD, SHAPE
• SUPER MARIO FIGURES: DINOSAUR, MUSHROOM, PLUMBER, PRINCESS
• FRUITS PLUS STARTING LETTER: DAPPLE, JDATE, SLIME, SPEAR
• STARTING WITH MERRIMENTS: CHEERIOS, FUNGUS, GLEEK, JOYSTICK

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you play NYT Connections?

In Connections, you are presented with 16 words. Your goal is to organize them into four groups of four based on a common thread. The groups range in difficulty from Yellow (easiest) to Purple (trickiest). You have four lives; every time you guess a group incorrectly, you lose a life.

When does the NYT Connections puzzle reset?

The puzzle resets daily at midnight in your local time zone.

What do the colors mean in Connections?

• Yellow: Straightforward definitions and synonyms.
• Green: Usually common knowledge categories (like movies, sports, or nature).
• Blue: Often involves wordplay or more specific trivia.
• Purple: The most difficult group, frequently involving homophones, fill-in-the-blanks, or very abstract connections.

Is "Gleek" a real word?

In the context of this puzzle, a "Gleek" refers to a dedicated fan of the musical television series Glee. However, in slang, it can also refer to a specific way of spraying saliva from the submandibular gland (though Wyna Liu usually sticks to the more "pop culture" definitions!).