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NYT Connections · #1137

NYT Connections Hints & Answers (#1137) — July 22, 2026

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“Start with the group you can picture most clearly — the one where every word describes something you can see on a body. Once that's locked, the remaining words will sort themselves more cleanly.SCORE just appeared in Connections #1133 (Jul 18, 2026) as part of things tracked in video games. TAIL has shown up many times before — most recently in Connections #997 (Mar 4, 2026) as a verb meaning to pursue someone.”

NYT Connections hints for July 22, 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 HIVESRaised, itchy welts on the skin — a hallmark allergic response, not a bee colony.
2 HOLEEach of the eighteen numbered sections of a golf course, listed down the scorecard.
3 HOOVESThe hard-keratin feet a zebra shares with horses — not a metaphor here.
4 ITCHINGThe maddening urge to scratch that comes with most allergic skin reactions.
5 MANEThe stiff, upright strip of hair running along a zebra's neck — shorter and more erect than a horse's.
6 PARThe expected number of strokes for a hole — not the everyday word for average.
7 PINSWhat you save and share on Pinterest — not sewing supplies or bowling targets.
8 RASHA blotchy skin eruption — here it's a symptom, not the adjective meaning impulsive.
9 REDNESSThe flushed, inflamed look skin gets when an allergen triggers a reaction.
10 SCOREThe running total of strokes a player has taken — not a film soundtrack or a quantity.
11 SNAPSPhotos or short videos sent on Snapchat — not the sound of fingers or a sharp remark.
12 STROKESEach individual swing counted on the card — not a swimming style or a medical event.
13 TAILThe tufted appendage at the rear — here it's anatomy, not a verb meaning to follow.
14 TWEETSPosts on Twitter/X — not bird sounds, despite the obvious temptation.
15 VINESSix-second looping videos from the now-defunct Vine app — not climbing plants.
16 WHITE STRIPESThe pale bands alternating with black across a zebra's coat — not the Detroit rock duo.
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 Your body announces these before you even know what set it off.
See Group SYMPTOMS OF AN ALLERGIC REACTION
See WordHIVES
See WordITCHING
See WordRASH
See WordREDNESS
See Hint A pencil and this sheet are all you need to track eighteen.
See Group ON A GOLF SCORECARD
See WordHOLE
See WordPAR
See WordSCORE
See WordSTROKES
See Hint Each one only exists because a specific app invented it.
See Group PLATFORM-SPECIFIC POSTS
See WordPINS
See WordSNAPS
See WordTWEETS
See WordVINES
See Hint Picture the animal at the zoo and list what you actually see.
See Group FEATURES OF A ZEBRA
See WordHOOVES
See WordMANE
See WordTAIL
See WordWHITE STRIPES
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 HIVES Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably picturing beehives — or even trying to fit it into a golf context — but here it's the skin reaction, the raised welts that show up during an allergic episode.
2 PINS Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of bowling pins or sewing pins, but the puzzle is using it as a social media term, not anything physical.
3 WHITE STRIPES Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of the rock band, but the puzzle is using it as a physical marking on an animal, not a musical reference.
4 STROKES Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably reading this as a swimming or medical term, but here it belongs to a scoring context, not a health one.

NYT Connections answers for July 22, 2026

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

Y SYMPTOMS OF AN ALLERGIC REACTION · Yellow · easiest
  • HIVES
  • ITCHING
  • RASH
  • REDNESS

HIVES, ITCHING, RASH and REDNESS are all classic symptoms of an allergic reaction. HIVES is the sneakiest — most solvers picture beehives or try to push it toward golf before the skin-reaction meaning clicks.

G ON A GOLF SCORECARD · Green · easy
  • HOLE
  • PAR
  • SCORE
  • STROKES

HOLE, PAR, SCORE and STROKES are all printed on a standard golf scorecard. PAR is the most versatile trap — it also means average or normal in everyday speech, but on a scorecard it's the target number of shots for each hole.

B PLATFORM-SPECIFIC POSTS · Blue · medium
  • PINS
  • SNAPS
  • TWEETS
  • VINES

PINS, SNAPS, TWEETS and VINES are all names for posts tied to a single platform — Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter and Vine respectively. VINES is the trickiest — Vine shut down in 2017, so younger solvers may only know the word as a plant.

P FEATURES OF A ZEBRA · Purple · hardest
  • HOOVES
  • MANE
  • TAIL
  • WHITE STRIPES

HOOVES, MANE, TAIL and WHITE STRIPES are all physical features of a zebra. WHITE STRIPES is the hardest — solvers are likely to think of the rock band before landing on the animal's coat markings.

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