NYT Connections · #1135

NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1135) — July 20, 2026

By Sneha Rajput·July 20, 2026

“Work from the most literal, surface-level words first — the ones that mean exactly what they look like — before tackling anything that might be hiding a second meaning inside its letters.HERALD and TRUMPET appeared together in Connections #540 (Dec 2, 2024). They were part of a group of words meaning to announce or proclaim.”

NYT Connections hints for July 20, 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 ALEXAAmazon's assistant on the surface; the first three letters spell ALE, a type of beer.

2 BLARETo make a loud, brash noise that announces itself — think foghorn or car horn.

3 BUBBLE TEAThe chewy tapioca balls at the bottom of the drink are called pearls.

4 BUTTONOn a shirt it fastens; on a screen you click it to trigger an action.

5 HERALDYou probably thought of a royal messenger or a newspaper name; here it's a verb meaning to announce the arrival of something.

6 ICONA small image on your screen representing an app or file — tap it to open.

7 LINKThe underlined or highlighted text you click to jump to another page.

8 MEADOWA grassy field on the surface; it opens with MEAD, the ancient honey-based alcoholic drink.

9 MENUIn a restaurant it lists dishes; on a screen it lists options you click through.

10 OYSTERThe shellfish that produces a pearl — the most direct connection in the group.

11 PORTOBELLOThe large mushroom on the surface; PORT — a fortified wine — is hiding at the front.

12 SAKESYou probably read 'for goodness' sakes'; the puzzle sees SAKE, the Japanese rice wine, at the start.

13 SOUNDLooks like a noun for audio or a body of water; here it's a verb — 'sound the alarm' is the sense the puzzle wants.

14 SWINEFrom the biblical phrase 'casting pearls before swine' — giving something valuable to those who won't appreciate it.

15 TRUMPETThe instrument is the bait; to trumpet something means to proclaim it loudly and proudly.

16 WISDOMFrom 'pearl of wisdom' — a small but valuable piece of insight or advice.

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

What a town crier does before the news.

See Group

ANNOUNCE

See Word

BLARE

See Word

HERALD

See Word

SOUND

See Word

TRUMPET

See Hint

Your cursor hovers over each of these.

See Group

THINGS TO CLICK

See Word

BUTTON

See Word

ICON

See Word

LINK

See Word

See Hint

Each one shares something precious with a mollusc.

See Group

ASSOCIATED WITH PEARLS

See Word

BUBBLE TEA

See Word

OYSTER

See Word

SWINE

See Word

WISDOM

See Hint

A bartender could pour the first few letters of each.

See Group

STARTING WITH ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

See Word

ALEXA

See Word

MEADOW

See Word

PORTOBELLO

See Word

SAKES

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 TRUMPET Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably picturing the brass instrument — that's the bait. Here it's a verb meaning to proclaim something loudly, not a musical reference.

2 SOUND Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably thinking of audio, or maybe a long narrow stretch of water — but the puzzle is using it as a verb meaning to announce or signal, as in 'sound the alarm'.

3 ALEXA Tap to see why this word traps.

You're almost certainly reading this as Amazon's voice assistant — but the puzzle is treating it as a word that contains a hidden alcoholic drink at its start.

4 MEADOW Tap to see why this word traps.

You're picturing an open grassy field — that's the obvious read. The puzzle is interested in the letters at the beginning of the word, not the landscape.

5 SWINE Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably not thinking of pearls at all — but there's a well-known phrase that puts pearls and swine in the same sentence.

NYT Connections answers for July 20, 2026

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

Y ANNOUNCE · Yellow · easiest

BLARE
HERALD
SOUND
TRUMPET

BLARE, HERALD, SOUND and TRUMPET all mean to announce or proclaim loudly. TRUMPET is the sneakiest — it doubles as a brass instrument, but the puzzle wants the verb sense: to trumpet something is to shout it from the rooftops, which is exactly what a herald does on horseback.

G THINGS TO CLICK · Green · easy

BUTTON
ICON
LINK
MENU

BUTTON, ICON, LINK and MENU are all things you click on a digital interface — a screen, app or webpage. BUTTON and MENU are the traps here, since both exist as physical real-world objects too.

B ASSOCIATED WITH PEARLS · Blue · medium

BUBBLE TEA
OYSTER
SWINE
WISDOM

BUBBLE TEA, OYSTER, SWINE and WISDOM are all associated with pearls — bubble tea pearls (tapioca balls), oyster (the creature that makes pearls), pearls before swine (the idiom), and pearl of wisdom (the phrase). BUBBLE TEA is the most surprising entry — the tapioca balls in the drink are literally called pearls, but that product knowledge is easy to miss under pressure.

P STARTING WITH ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES · Purple · hardest

ALEXA
MEADOW
PORTOBELLO
SAKES

ALEXA, MEADOW, PORTOBELLO and SAKES each begin with an alcoholic drink: ALE-xa, MEAD-ow, PORT-obello, SAKE-s. PORTOBELLO is the toughest — PORT is a fortified wine that most solvers won't spot hiding inside a mushroom name.

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Answers, pangram & word list

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