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NYT Connections · #1132

NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1132) — July 17, 2026

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“Before you commit to any literary-sounding words, read each one out loud and listen to how it ends — a hidden object might be lurking in the final syllables.”

NYT Connections hints for July 17, 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 →

1

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 CARDINAL DIRECTIONSNorth, South, East, West — four points on every compass.
2 CLASSICAL ELEMENTSEarth, Water, Fire and Air — the ancient quartet that explained everything.
3 CRANE GAMEThe claw machine that almost grabs the stuffed animal.
4 EPILOGUEThe closing chapter tacked on after the main story ends.
5 FAREWELLA goodbye that carries some weight — not just 'see you later'.
6 LAST DANCEThe final song of the night, when the lights come up.
7 PINBALLThe classic machine where you keep a steel ball in play with flippers.
8 PLOT SPOILERReads as ruining a story's ending; ends in SPOILER, the aerodynamic fin on a car's rear.
9 ROBIN HOODReads as the Sherwood Forest outlaw; ends in HOOD, the hinged cover over a car's engine.
10 SATIRESReads as a genre of social mockery; ends in TIRES, the rubber coverings fitted around a car's wheels.
11 SEASONSSpring, Summer, Autumn, Winter — four slices of the year.
12 SUITSHearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades — four suits in a standard deck, not a legal drama.
13 SWAN SONGA performer's final act — named after the myth of a swan's dying melody.
14 TICKETSThe paper strips that spill out of machines and get traded for prizes.
15 TOKENSThe actual metal discs you buy at the counter before you can play anything — not a metaphor.
16 TREE TRUNKReads as the woody base of a tree; ends in TRUNK, the storage compartment at the back of a car.
2

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 The curtain drops and the crowd goes home.
See Group GRAND FINALE
See WordEPILOGUE
See WordFAREWELL
See WordLAST DANCE
See WordSWAN SONG
See Hint Quarters in, prizes out — you know this place.
See Group SEEN IN AN ARCADE
See WordCRANE GAME
See WordPINBALL
See WordTICKETS
See WordTOKENS
See Hint Each one is a set your brain already knows by heart.
See Group FOUR GROUPS OF FOUR
See WordCARDINAL DIRECTIONS
See WordCLASSICAL ELEMENTS
See WordSEASONS
See WordSUITS
See Hint A mechanic could read these phrases differently than you do.
See Group ENDING IN PARTS OF A CAR
See WordPLOT SPOILER
See WordROBIN HOOD
See WordSATIRES
See WordTREE TRUNK
3

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 SATIRES Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably reading it as a literary genre — that's the bait. The puzzle is using it as a phrase whose final letters spell out a rubber automotive component.
2 PLOT SPOILER Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of someone who ruins a story's ending — but the puzzle is treating this as a phrase that ends with a piece of bodywork found on sports cars.
3 SUITS Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably placing this with CARDINAL DIRECTIONS and SEASONS as a familiar set — a deck of cards has four suits — but the puzzle is using it in a completely different, more structural way.
4 TOKENS Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably reading this as a vague stand-in for any kind of game piece or symbol — but the puzzle means the literal metal discs you feed into a specific kind of machine.

NYT Connections answers for July 17, 2026

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

Y GRAND FINALE · Yellow · easiest
  • EPILOGUE
  • FAREWELL
  • LAST DANCE
  • SWAN SONG

EPILOGUE, FAREWELL, LAST DANCE and SWAN SONG are all ways of saying something is over for good. SWAN SONG is the most poetic of the four — it comes from the ancient myth that swans sing only once, just before they die.

G SEEN IN AN ARCADE · Green · easy
  • CRANE GAME
  • PINBALL
  • TICKETS
  • TOKENS

CRANE GAME, PINBALL, TICKETS and TOKENS are all things you encounter at an arcade. TICKETS is the sneakiest — it's the paper reward you redeem at the prize counter, easy to overlook as an arcade staple.

B FOUR GROUPS OF FOUR · Blue · medium
  • CARDINAL DIRECTIONS
  • CLASSICAL ELEMENTS
  • SEASONS
  • SUITS

CARDINAL DIRECTIONS, CLASSICAL ELEMENTS, SEASONS and SUITS are all things that come in groups of exactly four. The meta-theme is the trap — solvers expect a shared topic, not a shared count.

P ENDING IN PARTS OF A CAR · Purple · hardest
  • PLOT SPOILER
  • ROBIN HOOD
  • SATIRES
  • TREE TRUNK

PLOT SPOILER, ROBIN HOOD, SATIRES and TREE TRUNK each end with a hidden car part: SPOILER, HOOD, TIRES and TRUNK. The trick is that every phrase reads perfectly as something else — a narrative term, a folk hero, a literary genre, a piece of nature.

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