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Today's NYT Connections Hint for July 26, #411 Is to Think Homophones

The purple category for Connections No. 411, for July 26 is a weird one today.

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Headshot of Gael Cooper
Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Cooper
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New York Times Connections word game logo on a phone

Read on for the Connections answer.

 James Martin/CNET

Today's Connections had a yellow category that seemed almost too obvious. But then, the usually bizarre purple category out-purpled itself with another homophone category. If you need help or the answers for today's Connections, read on.

Want more game answers? Here's the Wordle answer for today, and here's the answer for Strands. And do you solve the NYT Mini Crossword? Here's today's answer for that.

Read more: NYT Connections Could Be the New Wordle: Our Hints and Tips

Hints for today's Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Ways to go.

Green group hint: Cheerleader for something.

Blue group hint: On the negative side.

Purple group hint: Sounds like a musical item.

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Basic directions.

Green group: Advocate for.

Blue group: Drawback.

Purple group: Instrument homophones.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today's Connections answers?

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New York Times Connections completed puzzle for July 26, 2024.

 Screenshot by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper/CNET

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is basic directions. The four answers are down, left, right and up.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is advocate for. The four answers are back, champion, endorse and support.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is drawback. The four answers are con, ding, minus and strike.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is instrument homophones. The four answers are base, liar, loot and symbol. (Bass, lyre, lute and cymbal.)

How to play Connections

Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are coded by color, though you don't know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the toughest. Look at the words carefully and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just a part of the word. Once, four words were grouped because each started with the name of a rock band, including "Rushmore" and "Journeyman."