NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues -
NYT Connections #1146 Tip
One category hides inside another category's words.
What Makes NYT Connections #1146 Tricky?
MUSHROOM, FUNGUS, DINOSAUR, and SLIME look like a nature or biology cluster, while SPEAR, CHEERIOS, and GLEEK pull in completely different directions.
The editor's sharpest trick is that several words here contain a hidden shorter word — a fruit plus one letter — and spotting that internal structure is the only way to unlock one full group.
This is a hard Friday puzzle — one group clicks quickly if you know your Mario, but the wordplay categories demand you stop reading words at face value and start reading them as containers.
Connections Hints for Every Word in the July 31, 2026 Puzzle
MOLD
Connections hint for MOLD
To shape or construct something — not the fuzzy fungus growing on bread, even though that reading is very loud.
SPEAR
Connections hint for SPEAR
Contains a fruit inside it with one letter added at the front — think about what sits between the S and the R.
DAPPLE
Connections hint for DAPPLE
Contains a fruit inside it with one letter added at the front — the fruit is right there in the middle.
PRINCESS
Connections hint for PRINCESS
The royal figure Mario is always rescuing — Peach, specifically, is the Super Mario princess.
MUSHROOM
Connections hint for MUSHROOM
The power-up item Mario collects to grow bigger — a core Super Mario figure, not grouped with FUNGUS here.
JOYSTICK
Connections hint for JOYSTICK
Starts with a word meaning merriment or delight — look at the first three or four letters as a standalone word.
SLIME
Connections hint for SLIME
Contains a fruit inside it with one letter added at the front — the fruit is a citrus one.
FUNGUS
Connections hint for FUNGUS
Starts with a word meaning merriment — look at the first three letters as a standalone word, then read what follows.
CHEERIOS
Connections hint for CHEERIOS
Starts with a word meaning merriment — the breakfast cereal name begins with a very familiar expression of good cheer.
DINOSAUR
Connections hint for DINOSAUR
Yoshi, Mario's dinosaur companion — a Super Mario figure even if the word itself sounds like a natural history exhibit.
FASHION
Connections hint for FASHION
To fashion something is to construct or make it — a verb meaning to build or shape, not just a style category.
MODEL
Connections hint for MODEL
To model something is to construct or form it — also a physical representation, but here it is about the act of making.
GLEEK
Connections hint for GLEEK
Starts with a word meaning merriment — the first four letters are a standalone word for joy or mirth.
SHAPE
Connections hint for SHAPE
To shape something is to construct or form it — shares a category with other words that all mean to make or build.
PLUMBER
Connections hint for PLUMBER
Mario's defining job title — he is a plumber by trade, making this the least creature-like Super Mario figure.
JDATE
Connections hint for JDATE
Contains a fruit inside it with one letter added at the front — the fruit is a common one, and J is the added letter.
Traps & Misdirects Hints for NYT Connections Puzzle (#1146)
MUSHROOM is a fungus, FUNGUS is the biological kingdom, and SLIME is what you associate with gross biology or mold — grouping these three as nature or science words feels airtight. That reading is wrong. Each of these words belongs to a completely different category in this puzzle, and none of them are grouped together.
These three are all things you encounter in Super Mario games, which makes them feel like obvious members of the same group — but the fourth Mario word is hiding behind a job title, not a creature or a royal. If you lock in three and go hunting for a fourth fantasy creature, you will miss it.
SPEAR is a weapon, MOLD shapes things, and SHAPE is literally about form — a weapons-and-forms cluster feels plausible. That connection is a dead end. SPEAR is doing something completely different here, and MOLD and SHAPE are in the same group but for a reason that has nothing to do with physical form.
GLEEK sounds like a portmanteau, JOYSTICK is a gaming controller, and JDATE is a dating site — they look like a random modern-culture grab bag with no shared thread. Look more carefully at how each word starts: the connection is not what these words mean but what they begin with.
Connections Hints for July 31, 2026
Yellow Connections Hints
Yellow Category Hint
Four verbs that all mean to make or build something
Think: Think: crafting, forming, creating
Yellow Category Name
CONSTRUCT
Yellow Category Words
Reveal word 1
FASHIONReveal word 2
MODELReveal word 3
MOLDReveal word 4
SHAPEGreen Connections Hints
Green Category Hint
Characters and icons from the Super Mario universe
Think: Think: who or what appears in Mario
Green Category Name
SUPER MARIO FIGURES
Green Category Words
Reveal word 1
DINOSAURReveal word 2
MUSHROOMReveal word 3
PLUMBERReveal word 4
PRINCESSBlue Connections Hints
Blue Category Hint
Each word contains a fruit with one letter added at the start
Think: Think: hidden fruit inside the word
Blue Category Name
FRUITS PLUS STARTING LETTER
Blue Category Words
Reveal word 1
DAPPLEReveal word 2
JDATEReveal word 3
SLIMEReveal word 4
SPEARPurple Connections Hints
Purple Category Hint
Each word begins with a synonym for happiness or fun
Think: Think: joy, cheer, glee, fun
Purple Category Name
STARTING WITH MERRIMENTS
Purple Category Words
Reveal word 1
CHEERIOSReveal word 2
FUNGUSReveal word 3
GLEEKReveal word 4
JOYSTICKNYT Connections Answers for July 31, 2026
NYT Connections Answers Explained: July 31, 2026
CONSTRUCT
FASHION, MODEL, MOLD, and SHAPE all share a verb meaning — to construct, form, or make something — a sense that hides behind each word's more familiar noun or adjective identity.
- FASHION
- To fashion something means to make or construct it — 'she fashioned a tool from wire' — the verb sense is older than the clothing-industry noun.
- MODEL
- To model something is to shape or form it, as in modeling clay — the act of constructing a representation.
- MOLD
- To mold something is to shape it by pressing into a form — the verb meaning to construct or form, not the fungus.
- SHAPE
- To shape something is to construct or give form to it — 'shape the dough into a ball' — a direct synonym for the other three words here.
SUPER MARIO FIGURES
DINOSAUR, MUSHROOM, PLUMBER, and PRINCESS are all iconic figures from the Super Mario franchise — Yoshi the dinosaur, the power-up mushroom, Mario the plumber, and Princess Peach.
- DINOSAUR
- Yoshi is Mario's green dinosaur companion — a central Super Mario figure across many games in the series.
- MUSHROOM
- The Super Mushroom is Mario's classic power-up item that makes him grow — one of the most recognisable symbols in the franchise.
- PLUMBER
- Mario himself is a plumber by trade — his job title is the defining fact about him, making PLUMBER the sneakiest entry in this group.
- PRINCESS
- Princess Peach is the royal figure Mario repeatedly rescues — the princess role is a core archetype of the Super Mario story.
FRUITS PLUS STARTING LETTER
DAPPLE, JDATE, SLIME, and SPEAR each hide a fruit inside them — the fruit name with one extra letter added at the very beginning: D+APPLE, J+DATE, S+LIME, S+PEAR.
- DAPPLE
- D + APPLE — the fruit apple sits inside DAPPLE with the letter D added at the front.
- JDATE
- J + DATE — the fruit date sits inside JDATE with the letter J added at the front; JDATE is also a Jewish dating website, which is the surface disguise.
- SLIME
- S + LIME — the citrus fruit lime sits inside SLIME with the letter S added at the front.
- SPEAR
- S + PEAR — the fruit pear sits inside SPEAR with the letter S added at the front; the weapon meaning is the deliberate misdirect.
STARTING WITH MERRIMENTS
CHEERIOS, FUNGUS, GLEEK, and JOYSTICK each begin with a word that means merriment or happiness — CHEER, FUN, GLEE, and JOY — with the rest of the word appended after.
- CHEERIOS
- Begins with CHEER — a word meaning merriment or enthusiastic approval — followed by IOS; CHEERIOS is the breakfast cereal brand.
- FUNGUS
- Begins with FUN — a word meaning merriment or enjoyment — followed by GUS; the biological meaning of fungus is the surface disguise.
- GLEEK
- Begins with GLEE — a word meaning merriment or delight — followed by K; GLEEK is also slang for a fan of the TV show Glee, which layers the misdirect.
- JOYSTICK
- Begins with JOY — a word meaning merriment or happiness — followed by STICK; a joystick is a gaming or aircraft control device.
