NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Monday, July 13, 2026 (#1128)
Puzzle #1128. Start with a gentle nudge and work down — the full answers are at the bottom, hidden until you ask for them.
Just tell me the answer
The NYT Connections answer for Monday, July 13, 2026 (puzzle #1128) is: YELLOW — INTERROGATE: EXAMINE, GRILL, PUMP, QUESTION. GREEN — THINGS WITH HANDLES: BUCKET, DRAWER, MUG, UMBRELLA. BLUE — FICTIONAL CATS: FIGARO, PUSS, SALEM, TOM. PURPLE — STARTING WITH SMOOCHES: BUSSIN, KISSER, PECKISH, SMACKDOWN.
Today's 16 words
The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Monday, July 13, 2026. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.
UMBRELLA
SALEM
BUCKET
QUESTION
PUSS
GRILL
PUMP
KISSER
MUG
FIGARO
SMACKDOWN
DRAWER
EXAMINE
BUSSIN
TOM
PECKISH
How hard is Connections #1128?
Easy30/100
• Four clean, meaning-based categories with little overlap.
Where to start: Every category here is meaning-based, so group by topic first and use the four-per-group constraint to settle any word that could go two ways.
Connections hints for Monday, July 13, 2026
Four levels, each giving away a little more. Open only as many as you need.
yellow(the most straightforward group — start here) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — the category is a single word beginning with "I".
green(a little trickier, but still direct) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about handles.
blue(where the misdirection usually starts) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about cats.
purple(the wordplay group, and almost always the last to fall) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about smooches.
yellow4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
green4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
blue4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
purple4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
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Common questions
What is the NYT Connections answer for Monday, July 13, 2026?
The NYT Connections answer for Monday, July 13, 2026 (puzzle #1128) is: YELLOW — INTERROGATE: EXAMINE, GRILL, PUMP, QUESTION. GREEN — THINGS WITH HANDLES: BUCKET, DRAWER, MUG, UMBRELLA. BLUE — FICTIONAL CATS: FIGARO, PUSS, SALEM, TOM. PURPLE — STARTING WITH SMOOCHES: BUSSIN, KISSER, PECKISH, SMACKDOWN.
What is the purple group in Connections #1128?
The purple (hardest) group is "STARTING WITH SMOOCHES": BUSSIN, KISSER, PECKISH, SMACKDOWN.
What is the easiest group in today's Connections puzzle?
The yellow group is the most straightforward: "INTERROGATE" — EXAMINE, GRILL, PUMP, QUESTION. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.
What number is today's Connections puzzle?
Monday, July 13, 2026 is NYT Connections puzzle #1128. Connections launched on 12 June 2023 with puzzle #1, and a new puzzle is published every day.
What time does a new NYT Connections puzzle come out?
A new Connections puzzle unlocks at midnight in your own local time zone, so the changeover happens at a different moment around the world. The puzzle itself is the same for everyone on a given date.