NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues Today – Thursday, July 23, 2026 (Puzzle #1138)

Easy Puzzle #1138

NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues –

Looking for NYT Connections hints today? Puzzle #1138 on July 23, 2026 is rated Easy. Below you’ll find spoiler-free hints for all 16 words, category clues revealed one at a time, the complete answers, and detailed word-by-word explanations.

NYT Connections #1138 Tip

NYT Connections #1138 Tip

What Makes NYT Connections #1138 Tricky?

TERMINAL, APRON, DEPLANE, and FELINE land in the same grid alongside MARBLE, FEBRILE, and JANGLE — a collision of airport vocabulary, animal adjectives, and words that feel like they wandered in from different dictionaries.

The editor's sharpest trick is hiding a category inside the final letters of four words — the words look completely unrelated on the surface, but their endings spell out a shared mathematical concept.

This one skews hard — the anxious-state group and the spherical group are findable once you commit to a reading, but the hidden-endings category will stall most players until they stop reading words as whole units.

Connections Hints for Every Word in the July 23, 2026 Puzzle

Click any word below to reveal a spoiler-free hint. These are individual clues — not the category answers.

JANGLE

Connections hint for JANGLE

A discordant metallic clinking sound — but look past the meaning and read the last four letters carefully.

INTENSE

Connections hint for INTENSE

Extreme in degree or strength — here it means emotionally wound up, not just very strong coffee.

ORANGE

Connections hint for ORANGE

The round citrus fruit — its spherical shape is what matters here, not its colour or flavour.

FELINE

Connections hint for FELINE

Relating to cats — but this puzzle is not interested in cats; it is interested in the three letters at the end.

FEBRILE

Connections hint for FEBRILE

Feverish — and by extension, agitated or frantically busy, as if running a mental temperature.

BASEBALL

Connections hint for BASEBALL

The hard round ball used in the sport — the ball itself, not the game, is what earns it a place here.

MARBLE

Connections hint for MARBLE

A small hard glass sphere used in children's games — perfectly round, which is the only thing that matters here.

APRON

Connections hint for APRON

In aviation, the paved area around a terminal where aircraft park and are serviced — a genuine airport term.

APPOINT

Connections hint for APPOINT

To officially assign someone to a position — ignore the meaning and check what letters it ends with.

TERMINAL

Connections hint for TERMINAL

An airport terminal is where passengers arrive and depart — one of the most recognisable parts of any airport.

EXCITED

Connections hint for EXCITED

Keyed up and eager — in this puzzle it sits alongside words meaning agitated and frantic rather than simply happy.

RUNWAY

Connections hint for RUNWAY

The long strip of tarmac where aircraft take off and land — a core structural part of any airport.

FRENETIC

Connections hint for FRENETIC

Wildly energetic and chaotic — frantic activity driven by anxiety or urgency.

HANGAR

Connections hint for HANGAR

A large building where aircraft are stored and maintained — a standard part of any airport's infrastructure.

DEPLANE

Connections hint for DEPLANE

To exit an aircraft after landing — an aviation word, but the puzzle may be using its ending rather than its meaning.

GLOBE

Connections hint for GLOBE

A spherical model of the Earth — round by definition, which is its qualification here.

Traps & Misdirects Hints for NYT Connections Puzzle (#1138)

TERMINAL, APRON, RUNWAY

TERMINAL is where you check in, APRON is the tarmac area where planes park, and RUNWAY is where they take off — the airport connection is airtight and obvious. That reading is incomplete. One of these three words belongs to a completely different category, and pulling the wrong one into the airport group will cost you a mistake.

DEPLANE, HANGAR, APRON

DEPLANE means to exit an aircraft, HANGAR is where planes are stored, and APRON is the paved area around a terminal — all three feel like aviation vocabulary. One of them is not in the airport category. Its aviation meaning is real, but the puzzle is using a different part of the word entirely.

ORANGE, MARBLE, GLOBE

ORANGE is a round fruit, MARBLE is a small round ball, and GLOBE is a spherical model of the Earth — grouping these three as spherical things feels natural. All three are indeed spherical, but so is a fourth word in this grid that does not look like it belongs with them at first glance.

Connections Hints for July 23, 2026

Yellow Connections Hints

Yellow Category Hint

Round objects — fruits, toys, sports equipment, models

Think: perfectly spherical, holds its shape

Yellow Category Name

SPHERICAL THINGS

Yellow Category Words
Reveal word 1 BASEBALL
Reveal word 2 GLOBE
Reveal word 3 MARBLE
Reveal word 4 ORANGE

Green Connections Hints

Green Category Hint

Words describing a frantic, wound-up, high-energy state

Think: nervous energy, can't sit still

Green Category Name

IN AN ANXIOUS STATE

Green Category Words
Reveal word 1 EXCITED
Reveal word 2 FEBRILE
Reveal word 3 FRENETIC
Reveal word 4 INTENSE

Blue Connections Hints

Blue Category Hint

Named zones or structures you find at an airport

Think: where planes go, where people go

Blue Category Name

PARTS OF AN AIRPORT

Blue Category Words
Reveal word 1 APRON
Reveal word 2 HANGAR
Reveal word 3 RUNWAY
Reveal word 4 TERMINAL

Purple Connections Hints

Purple Category Hint

Each word contains a geometry term buried in its ending

Think: shapes, angles, lines — hidden inside

Purple Category Name

ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS

Purple Category Words
Reveal word 1 APPOINT
Reveal word 2 DEPLANE
Reveal word 3 FELINE
Reveal word 4 JANGLE

NYT Connections Answers for July 23, 2026

SPHERICAL THINGS BASEBALL, GLOBE, MARBLE, ORANGE
IN AN ANXIOUS STATE EXCITED, FEBRILE, FRENETIC, INTENSE
PARTS OF AN AIRPORT APRON, HANGAR, RUNWAY, TERMINAL
ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, JANGLE

NYT Connections Answers Explained: July 23, 2026

SPHERICAL THINGS

BASEBALL, GLOBE, MARBLE, and ORANGE are all spherical objects — a sports ball, a model of the Earth, a glass toy, and a round fruit, each defined by their round three-dimensional shape.

BASEBALL
The baseball itself — the hard, stitched round ball used in the sport — is perfectly spherical.
GLOBE
A globe is a spherical model of the Earth, round by design and definition.
MARBLE
A marble is a small hard glass sphere, classically used in children's games — round is its entire identity.
ORANGE
The citrus fruit is famously round — its spherical shape, not its colour or taste, is what places it here.

IN AN ANXIOUS STATE

EXCITED, FEBRILE, FRENETIC, and INTENSE all describe a person in a heightened, wound-up, anxious state — each word captures a different shade of that frantic energy.

EXCITED
Keyed up and agitated — in this context it leans toward nervous anticipation rather than simple happiness.
FEBRILE
Literally meaning feverish, febrile is used figuratively to describe frantic, overheated mental or emotional activity.
FRENETIC
Wildly fast and chaotic — frenetic energy is the kind driven by anxiety or urgency, not calm enthusiasm.
INTENSE
Extremely concentrated in feeling or effort — an intense person is wound tight, which maps onto anxious energy.

PARTS OF AN AIRPORT

APRON, HANGAR, RUNWAY, and TERMINAL are all named zones or structures that make up an airport — the parking area, the storage building, the take-off strip, and the passenger building.

APRON
The apron is the paved area around a terminal where aircraft park, are loaded, and are serviced — a standard aviation term.
HANGAR
A hangar is a large building where aircraft are stored, maintained, and repaired — a core part of any airport's infrastructure.
RUNWAY
The runway is the long paved strip where aircraft accelerate for take-off and decelerate after landing.
TERMINAL
The terminal is the main passenger building where check-in, security, gates, and arrivals are housed — the most visible part of any airport.

ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS

APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, and JANGLE each end with a geometry term hidden inside them — POINT, PLANE, LINE, and ANGLE — words that name fundamental concepts in geometry.

APPOINT
The last five letters of APPOINT spell POINT — a location in geometry with no size or dimension, just a position.
DEPLANE
The last five letters of DEPLANE spell PLANE — a flat two-dimensional surface that extends infinitely in geometry.
FELINE
The last four letters of FELINE spell LINE — a straight one-dimensional path extending in both directions, a basic geometry term.
JANGLE
The last five letters of JANGLE spell ANGLE — the measure of rotation between two lines meeting at a point, a core geometry concept.

Frequently Asked Questions About NYT Connections #1138

What are today's NYT Connections answers for July 23, 2026?

The NYT Connections answers for puzzle #1138 on July 23, 2026 are: Yellow: SPHERICAL THINGS (BASEBALL, GLOBE, MARBLE, ORANGE). Green: IN AN ANXIOUS STATE (EXCITED, FEBRILE, FRENETIC, INTENSE). Blue: PARTS OF AN AIRPORT (APRON, HANGAR, RUNWAY, TERMINAL). Purple: ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS (APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, JANGLE).

How hard is NYT Connections puzzle #1138 (July 23, 2026)?

NYT Connections #1138 on Thu, July 23, 2026 is rated Easy difficulty. Editor's tip: NYT Connections #1138 Tip

What are the 4 categories in today's Connections puzzle #1138?

The four category groups in NYT Connections #1138 (July 23, 2026) are: SPHERICAL THINGS, IN AN ANXIOUS STATE, PARTS OF AN AIRPORT, ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS.

What are the 16 words in NYT Connections today (July 23, 2026)?

The 16 words in NYT Connections puzzle #1138 are: JANGLE, INTENSE, ORANGE, FELINE, FEBRILE, BASEBALL, MARBLE, APRON, APPOINT, TERMINAL, EXCITED, RUNWAY, FRENETIC, HANGAR, DEPLANE, GLOBE.

What are the traps in NYT Connections #1138?

The main traps in puzzle #1138 are word groups that seem related but belong to different categories: TERMINAL, APRON, RUNWAY; DEPLANE, HANGAR, APRON; ORANGE, MARBLE, GLOBE. These are deliberately designed to mislead solvers.

How do you play NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is a daily word puzzle by The New York Times. You are given 16 words and must sort them into 4 groups of 4 words that share a common theme. You get 4 mistakes before the game ends. The groups are color-coded: Yellow (easiest), Green, Blue, and Purple (hardest). Each puzzle has exactly one correct solution.

What time does NYT Connections reset?

NYT Connections resets every day at midnight Eastern Time (ET). A new puzzle is available at 12:00 AM ET, which is 9:00 PM PT the previous day, and 5:00 AM GMT/UTC.

What do the colors mean in NYT Connections?

The four colors in NYT Connections represent difficulty levels. Yellow is the easiest category to identify, Green is slightly harder, Blue is difficult, and Purple is the trickiest — often involving wordplay, puns, or less obvious connections. Start with the group you are most confident about.

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