NYT Connections · #1125

NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1125) — July 10, 2026

By Sneha Rajput·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.”

NYT Connections hints for July 10, 2026

Three levels of help — a definition for every word, colour-coded group nudges, and a heads-up on the traps. Skip to all answers →

Word clues

A spoiler-free definition for every word in the grid. Tap the eye on any card to reveal which colour-group it belongs to.

1 AIRPLANE MODECuts all wireless signals — required before takeoff, beloved by people who just want to be left alone.

2 À LA MODEContains MODE like several other answers, but here it's a French phrase meaning served with a scoop of ice cream.

3 BALL GOWNA formal dress — but it opens with BALL, the umpire's call for a pitch outside the strike zone.

4 DECADENTMenu shorthand for 'this is extremely rich and you should feel a little guilty'.

5 DEPECHE MODESounds like a French phrase — and it is — but it's a Basildon band, not a menu item.

6 DO NOT DISTURBSilences calls and notifications — the digital equivalent of a hotel door sign.

7 ERASUREAndy Bell and Vince Clarke — responsible for 'A Little Respect'.

8 FRESH-BAKEDSignals the item came out of the oven recently — a powerful selling point for cookies and brownies.

9 HOTSPOTTurns your phone into a portable Wi-Fi router for other devices.

10 LOCATION SERVICESThe setting apps beg you to enable so they can track where you are.

11 MOLTENThe word that tells you the chocolate cake has a liquid centre.

12 NEW ORDERRose from the ashes of Joy Division; 'Blue Monday' is their calling card.

13 OUTKASTThe Atlanta hip-hop duo — but the puzzle only cares that it starts with OUT, the call when a batter is retired.

14 PET SHOP BOYSNeil Tennant and Chris Lowe — the duo behind 'West End Girls'.

15 SAFE MODEReads as a tech startup setting, but here SAFE is the umpire's arms-spread call when a runner beats the tag.

16 STRIKE A POSEMadonna's command in 'Vogue' — and STRIKE is the umpire's call for a pitch in the zone.

Group hints

Four colour-coded groups, easiest → hardest. Every button reveals the hint, the category name, or a single word — tap only what you need.

See Hint

Icons you tap when you need your phone to behave differently.

See Group

SMARTPHONE SETTINGS

See Word

AIRPLANE MODE

See Word

DO NOT DISTURB

See Word

HOTSPOT

See Word

LOCATION SERVICES

See Hint

Words a restaurant prints to make you order the pudding.

See Group

DESSERT MENU DESCRIPTORS

See Word

DECADENT

See Word

FRESH-BAKED

See Word

MOLTEN

See Word

À LA MODE

See Hint

British acts who made synthesisers sound cold and danceable.

See Group

'80S SYNTH-POP BANDS

See Word

DEPECHE MODE

See Word

ERASURE

See Word

NEW ORDER

See Word

PET SHOP BOYS

See Hint

Four phrases whose first word belongs on a scoreboard, not a sentence.

See Group

STARTING WITH BASEBALL CALLS

See Word

BALL GOWN

See Word

OUTKAST

See Word

SAFE MODE

See Word

STRIKE A POSE

Words the puzzle wants you to mis-group

Read these before you guess — they're the words most likely to break a streak. Tap for the trap.

1 SAFE MODE Tap to see why this word traps.

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.

2 OUTKAST Tap to see why this word traps.

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.

3 À LA MODE Tap to see why this word traps.

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.

4 DEPECHE MODE Tap to see why this word traps.

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 answers for July 10, 2026

All four groups revealed, easiest first. Each card holds the theme, the four words, and why the group works.

Y SMARTPHONE SETTINGS · Yellow · easiest

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.

G DESSERT MENU DESCRIPTORS · Green · easy

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.

B '80S SYNTH-POP BANDS · Blue · medium

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.

P STARTING WITH BASEBALL CALLS · Purple · hardest

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.

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