NYT Connections · #1125
NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1125) — July 10, 2026
Before you lock in any group, count how many answers contain the same word — that word is doing very different jobs across the grid, and assuming it anchors one clean category will cost you a mistake.
DO NOT DISTURB has appeared before as a phone-related setting — in Connections #1147 (May 14, 2026) and Connections #660 (Mar 2, 2025), both times among cellphone modes. It plays the same role today.
Traps & Misdirects for July 10, 2026
The decoys built into this puzzle — and why each one bites.
SAFE MODE Decoy
You're almost certainly reading this as a tech setting — the thing you boot a computer into when something's wrong. That's the bait. The puzzle is using it as a phrase that opens with a baseball umpire's call, not a device setting.
OUTKAST Decoy
You're probably thinking of the hip-hop duo, which makes it feel at home next to the synth-pop bands. But the puzzle isn't interested in the music — it's interested in the first three letters as a call an umpire makes.
À LA MODE Decoy
It contains MODE, so your brain wants to file it with the other MODE phrases. But the puzzle is using it as a menu descriptor, not as part of the MODE cluster.
DEPECHE MODE Decoy
It's a French-sounding phrase, which could make it feel like it belongs on a dessert menu alongside À LA MODE. It doesn't — it's a band, full stop.
NYT Connections Word Clues for July 10, 2026
Spoiler-free meaning for every word in the grid.
AIRPLANE MODE
Cuts all wireless signals — required before takeoff, beloved by people who just want to be left alone.
À LA MODE
Contains MODE like several other answers, but here it's a French phrase meaning served with a scoop of ice cream.
BALL GOWN
A formal dress — but it opens with BALL, the umpire's call for a pitch outside the strike zone.
DECADENT
Menu shorthand for 'this is extremely rich and you should feel a little guilty'.
DEPECHE MODE
Sounds like a French phrase — and it is — but it's a Basildon band, not a menu item.
DO NOT DISTURB
Silences calls and notifications — the digital equivalent of a hotel door sign.
ERASURE
Andy Bell and Vince Clarke — responsible for 'A Little Respect'.
FRESH-BAKED
Signals the item came out of the oven recently — a powerful selling point for cookies and brownies.
HOTSPOT
Turns your phone into a portable Wi-Fi router for other devices.
LOCATION SERVICES
The setting apps beg you to enable so they can track where you are.
MOLTEN
The word that tells you the chocolate cake has a liquid centre.
NEW ORDER
Rose from the ashes of Joy Division; 'Blue Monday' is their calling card.
OUTKAST
The Atlanta hip-hop duo — but the puzzle only cares that it starts with OUT, the call when a batter is retired.
PET SHOP BOYS
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe — the duo behind 'West End Girls'.
SAFE MODE
Reads as a tech startup setting, but here SAFE is the umpire's arms-spread call when a runner beats the tag.
STRIKE A POSE
Madonna's command in 'Vogue' — and STRIKE is the umpire's call for a pitch in the zone.
NYT Connections Hints for July 10, 2026
Reveal exactly what you need — a hint, the group name, or a single word.
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NYT Connections Answers for July 10, 2026
Full spoilers — all four groups revealed.
Yellow group
Smartphone settings
- AIRPLANE MODE
- DO NOT DISTURB
- HOTSPOT
- LOCATION SERVICES
AIRPLANE MODE, DO NOT DISTURB, HOTSPOT and LOCATION SERVICES are all settings found in a smartphone's quick-access panel. The trap is that SAFE MODE also sounds like it belongs here — but it doesn't.
Green group
Dessert menu descriptors
- DECADENT
- FRESH-BAKED
- MOLTEN
- À LA MODE
DECADENT, FRESH-BAKED, MOLTEN and À LA MODE are all phrases you'd find describing desserts on a menu. À LA MODE is the sneakiest — it contains MODE, which pulls solvers toward the phone settings group, but here it just means served with ice cream.
Blue group
'80s synth-pop bands
- DEPECHE MODE
- ERASURE
- NEW ORDER
- PET SHOP BOYS
DEPECHE MODE, ERASURE, NEW ORDER and PET SHOP BOYS are all iconic British synth-pop bands from the 1980s. DEPECHE MODE is the biggest trap — it contains MODE and sounds vaguely French, making it feel like it could belong on a menu or with the phone settings.
Purple group
Starting with baseball calls
- BALL GOWN
- OUTKAST
- SAFE MODE
- STRIKE A POSE
BALL GOWN, OUTKAST, SAFE MODE and STRIKE A POSE each begin with one of the four calls a baseball umpire makes — BALL, OUT, SAFE and STRIKE respectively. SAFE MODE is the cruellest entry: it looks exactly like a phone setting, and OUTKAST tempts anyone who knows their hip-hop into the music category.