NYT Connections Hints & Answers Today: July 28, 2026 (Puzzle #1143)

If today’s New York Times Connections grid has you burning through your mistakes, you are not alone. Puzzle #1143 features some heavy misdirection, with several words seemingly fitting into a general list or category theme before pulling the rug out from under you.

Below are strategic, spoiler-free hints to help you group today’s words on your own, followed by the exact categories and answers at the bottom of the page.

Today’s Connections Strategy & Commentary

Watch out for the red herrings today. At first glance, words like Captain and Lead look like they belong in sports roles, while Empire and Fuji could easily be mistaken for place names. Committing to those wrong groups early will cost you chances. We recommend checking how the words are used or spelled first. Separating action terms, product types, and brand names will make the remaining words much easier to sort.

Connections Hints Today: Category Clues

If you just need a nudge to get your brain moving in the right direction, here are clues for the four color-coded groups:

• 🟨 Yellow Group Hint (Easiest): Words that mean to take charge or give orders.
• 🟩 Green Group Hint (Medium): These are all well-known varieties of a common fruit.
• 🟦 Blue Group Hint (Hard): These are all popular footwear brands that start with the same letter.
• 🟪 Purple Group Hint (Tricky): These words all begin with a sequence that reads the same forward and backward.

Stuck on one word? If you have Bobsled, try looking at how it starts rather than what it is used for. It belongs to the trickier Purple group today!

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: Beyond this point lies the full solution for Puzzle #1143. If you still want to solve the grid yourself using the clues above, do not scroll down.

NYT Connections Answers Today: Tuesday July 28, 2026

Here are the completed categories and groupings for today’s puzzle:

🟨 Yellow Group: COMMAND

• CAPTAIN
• DIRECT
• HEAD
• LEAD

🟩 Green Group: HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES

• EMPIRE
• FUJI
• GALA
• HONEYCRISP

🟦 Blue Group: SHOE BRANDS STARTING WITH “C”

• CAMPER
• CLARKS
• CONVERSE
• CROCS

🟪 Purple Group: STARTING WITH PALINDROMIC NAMES

• ANNAPOLIS
• BOBSLED
• EVEREST
• OTTOMAN

Previous Answer

NYT Connections Answer for July 27, 2026 (Puzzle #1142): Gymnastics Apparatus, Long Tapered Things, Kinds Of Shifts, Icons On A Shopping Site

Daily NYT Puzzle Hub

Keep your winning streak alive across the entire NYT Games ecosystem. Check out our daily guides for today’s other popular puzzles:

• Wordle Hints and Answer Today: Wordle Hints & Answer Today: July 28, 2026 (Puzzle #1865)
• NYT Strands Hints & Answers Today: NYT Strands Hints, Spangram & Answers Today: July 28, 2026 (Puzzle #877)

Join the Discussion

Did today’s puzzle give you a perfect start, or did the tricky category connections slow you down? Share your results grid or talk about which group was the hardest to figure out in the comments below!