NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues -
NYT Connections #1118 Tip
One entire category is built around a single letter you never see.
What Makes NYT Connections #1118 Tricky?
GROOVY, COLD SHOULDER, FELICITY, and RUNAROUND share a grid with HOT DRINK and GOLF ACCESSORY — a collision of vintage slang, emotional vocabulary, social snubs, and what look like random descriptive phrases.
The editor's sharpest trick is that four entries are not words at all — they are definitions, and the thing they define never appears anywhere on the grid.
This one skews hard: one group is satisfying the moment you spot the shared vibe, one requires you to remember slang your parents used, and the remaining two demand a mental leap most players will not see coming without a nudge.
Connections Hints for Every Word in the July 3, 2026 Puzzle
HOT DRINK
Connections hint for HOT DRINK
Not a category label — this is a definition of something else entirely, something pronounced as a single letter.
RUNAROUND
Connections hint for RUNAROUND
When someone gives you the runaround, they keep deflecting, stalling, and sending you in circles instead of helping.
FELICITY
Connections hint for FELICITY
Intense happiness or bliss — a formal, slightly literary word for joy, not just the TV show or the name.
SHIRT
Connections hint for SHIRT
A piece of clothing, yes — but here it is a definition of something that shares its first sound with a letter of the alphabet.
WARM FUZZIES
Connections hint for WARM FUZZIES
That cosy, glowing feeling of being liked or appreciated — informal but genuine emotional warmth, not a temperature reference.
GOSSIP
Connections hint for GOSSIP
Idle talk or rumour about other people — and also a definition of something pronounced as a single letter.
COOL BEANS
Connections hint for COOL BEANS
A retro expression of enthusiasm meaning great or excellent — peaked in the 1980s and 1990s.
DIRTY LOOK
Connections hint for DIRTY LOOK
A withering glare that communicates contempt or disapproval without a single word.
COLD SHOULDER
Connections hint for COLD SHOULDER
Deliberately ignoring someone as a form of social punishment — the cold here is emotional, not literal.
HAPPINESS
Connections hint for HAPPINESS
The general state of feeling good — the most straightforward word in its group, which makes it useful as an anchor.
RIGHT ON
Connections hint for RIGHT ON
An expression of enthusiastic agreement or approval, popular in 1960s and 1970s counterculture.
HARD TIME
Connections hint for HARD TIME
Giving someone a hard time means making things difficult for them — criticism, teasing, or deliberate obstruction.
FAR OUT
Connections hint for FAR OUT
Retro slang for amazing or excellent — associated with 1960s and 1970s hippie culture.
GOLF ACCESSORY
Connections hint for GOLF ACCESSORY
A small peg used to prop up a ball before a drive — and a definition of something pronounced as a single letter.
BLISS
Connections hint for BLISS
Perfect happiness or joy — often used to describe a state so good it feels almost unreal.
GROOVY
Connections hint for GROOVY
Retro slang for excellent or fashionable — strongly associated with 1960s and 1970s culture.
Traps & Misdirects Hints for NYT Connections Puzzle (#1118)
WARM FUZZIES, COOL BEANS, and COLD SHOULDER are all multi-word phrases with a temperature word baked in — warm, cool, cold — and grouping them as a temperature-themed cluster feels tidy. That surface pattern is a red herring. Each of these belongs to a completely different group, and temperature has nothing to do with any of the actual categories.
FELICITY, BLISS, and HAPPINESS are all genuine synonyms for joy, and pulling them together as a trio feels like the obvious move — especially since FELICITY is also a character name and BLISS is also a surname, which makes them feel like they might be doing something else. They are not doing something else. All three belong to the same group, and the fourth member of that group is the one that does not look like a dictionary entry for joy.
HOT DRINK, GOSSIP, SHIRT, and GOLF ACCESSORY look like four random phrases dumped in the grid with no connection — nothing about their surfaces links them. The connection is not about what they say but about what they sound like when abbreviated to a single letter, and that letter never appears in the grid at all.
Connections Hints for July 3, 2026
Yellow Connections Hints
Yellow Category Hint
Four words or phrases that all mean joy or contentment
Think: Think: synonyms for feeling great
Yellow Category Name
POSITIVE FEELINGS
Yellow Category Words
Reveal word 1
BLISSReveal word 2
FELICITYReveal word 3
HAPPINESSReveal word 4
WARM FUZZIESGreen Connections Hints
Green Category Hint
Old-fashioned phrases people said to mean awesome
Think: Think: 1960s and 70s slang
Green Category Name
RETRO EXPRESSIONS OF APPROVAL
Green Category Words
Reveal word 1
COOL BEANSReveal word 2
FAR OUTReveal word 3
GROOVYReveal word 4
RIGHT ONBlue Connections Hints
Blue Category Hint
Phrases describing unkind or dismissive treatment of someone
Think: Think: ways to be socially cruel
Blue Category Name
BAD THINGS TO GIVE SOMEONE
Blue Category Words
Reveal word 1
COLD SHOULDERReveal word 2
DIRTY LOOKReveal word 3
HARD TIMEReveal word 4
RUNAROUNDPurple Connections Hints
Purple Category Hint
Each entry defines something whose name is one spoken letter
Think: Think: alphabet, homophones, abbreviations
Purple Category Name
WHAT THINGS PRONOUNCED "T" MIGHT REFER TO
Purple Category Words
Reveal word 1
GOLF ACCESSORYReveal word 2
GOSSIPReveal word 3
HOT DRINKReveal word 4
SHIRTNYT Connections Answers for July 3, 2026
NYT Connections Answers Explained: July 3, 2026
POSITIVE FEELINGS
BLISS, FELICITY, HAPPINESS, and WARM FUZZIES all describe the experience of feeling good — three are formal or neutral synonyms for joy, and one is a playful informal phrase for the same emotional warmth.
- BLISS
- Perfect, complete happiness — the kind that feels almost too good to be real, often used to describe peak contentment.
- FELICITY
- A formal literary word for intense happiness or joy — less common in everyday speech, which makes it feel slightly surprising in this group.
- HAPPINESS
- The most straightforward member of the group — the general everyday state of feeling good and content.
- WARM FUZZIES
- An informal phrase for that cosy, glowing feeling of being appreciated or liked — it belongs here despite looking nothing like the other three.
RETRO EXPRESSIONS OF APPROVAL
COOL BEANS, FAR OUT, GROOVY, and RIGHT ON are all slang expressions meaning great or excellent that were popular in the 1960s through 1980s and now read as deliberately retro.
- COOL BEANS
- An enthusiastic way of saying great or excellent — common in the 1980s and 1990s, now used ironically or affectionately.
- FAR OUT
- 1960s and 1970s slang for amazing or excellent — originally associated with counterculture and psychedelic culture.
- GROOVY
- Perhaps the most iconic retro approval word — meaning excellent or fashionable, strongly tied to 1960s hippie culture.
- RIGHT ON
- An expression of enthusiastic agreement or approval — popular in 1960s and 1970s activist and counterculture circles.
BAD THINGS TO GIVE SOMEONE
COLD SHOULDER, DIRTY LOOK, HARD TIME, and RUNAROUND are all phrases describing unkind or dismissive treatment — each one is something you give to someone when you want to make their life unpleasant.
- COLD SHOULDER
- To give someone the cold shoulder is to deliberately ignore them — a form of social punishment through pointed indifference.
- DIRTY LOOK
- A withering glare that communicates contempt or disapproval — no words needed, just the look.
- HARD TIME
- Giving someone a hard time means making things difficult for them through criticism, teasing, or deliberate obstruction.
- RUNAROUND
- Giving someone the runaround means stalling, deflecting, and sending them in circles instead of actually helping them.
WHAT THINGS PRONOUNCED 'T' MIGHT REFER TO
GOLF ACCESSORY, GOSSIP, HOT DRINK, and SHIRT are all definitions of the letter T — a tee is a golf peg, tea is a hot drink, tee is also a shirt, and tea is slang for gossip.
- GOLF ACCESSORY
- A tee is the small peg used to prop up a golf ball before a drive — spelled T-E-E and pronounced exactly like the letter T.
- GOSSIP
- Tea is slang for gossip or inside information — as in spill the tea — so GOSSIP is a definition of the word tea, which sounds like the letter T.
- HOT DRINK
- Tea is the hot drink brewed from leaves — the word tea is pronounced identically to the letter T, making it a definition of something pronounced T.
- SHIRT
- A tee or tee-shirt is a short-sleeved collarless shirt — so SHIRT is a definition of tee, which is pronounced like the letter T.
