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NYT Drops Easy Connections #1133 with Four Color Groups

7/19/2026

Summary

NYT Releases Puzzle

The New York Times released Connections puzzle #1133 on Saturday, July 18, 2026.
The puzzle’s four groups are yellow (Carry, Double dribble, Goaltend, Travel), green (Attitude, Mind, Opinion, View), blue (Health, Lives, Score, Time) and purple (Culture, Fly, Quiz, Tart).
Players may make up to four wrong guesses before the puzzle ends, with early testers giving it a 1.8-out-of-5 rating and labeling it easy.

Summary

NYT Unveils Puzzle

NYT Connections, launched June 2023, serves as a daily ritual for millions alongside Wordle and the crossword.
Puzzle #1133, released at 00:00 UTC on July 18 2026, limits solvers to four wrong guesses and uses a color-coded difficulty scale.
Editors note the design relies on red-herring words that could fit multiple categories, adding extra challenge.
On the same day the puzzle appeared, Wordle #1855 answer was BOOTH while NYT Strands #866 answers were posted.

History

Historical Context

The New York Times first ran a crossword in 1942, and after Will Shortz became editor in 1993 the paper expanded puzzles online in the late-1990s. That digital push helped launch NYT Games in 2014 and, following the 2022 Wordle acquisition, the Connections game—played 3.3 billion times in 2024—reached its 2026 #1133 edition.

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NYT Releases Puzzle

The New York Times released Connections puzzle #1133 on Saturday, July 18, 2026.
The puzzle’s four groups are yellow (Carry, Double dribble, Goaltend, Travel), green (Attitude, Mind, Opinion, View), blue (Health, Lives, Score, Time) and purple (Culture, Fly, Quiz, Tart).
Players may make up to four wrong guesses before the puzzle ends, with early testers giving it a 1.8-out-of-5 rating and labeling it easy.

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