Note: Make sure to complete today’s NYT Connections before reading further! We’ll be getting into spoilers for today’s game pretty quickly. If you need some help to complete the grid, you can find my NYT Connections hints and answers column for today right here:
Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to my deeper dive into today’s Connections answers. The idea behind this is to help clear things up for anyone who isn’t sure how today’s groups fit together.
If I’ve missed any red herrings or misunderstood something, let me know via email or on Discord. I don’t typically look at X or check the comments here.
I’m going to assume that you’ve already beaten today’s game. We’re going straight into spoiler territory here. So, consider this your one and only warning.
Here are today’s NYT Connections answers explained (and any red herrings I spot) for Monday, July 13:
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Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained
Connections – Yellow Group
🟨 interrogate (EXAMINE, GRILL, PUMP, QUESTION)
These are just synonyms. I don’t think I need to spell them out any further!
Connections – Green Group
🟩 things with handles (BUCKET, DRAWER, MUG, UMBRELLA)
The category title handles things for us here too.
Connections – Blue Group
🟦 fictional cats (FIGARO, PUSS, SALEM, TOM)
FIGARO is the cat in Disney’s Pinocchio:
PUSS in Boots is an anthropomorphic kitty from an eponymous fairy tale. Also known from Shrek 2 and his own spin-off films. Such an entertaining performance from Antonio Banderas:
SALEM is the talking cat in Sabrina the Teenage Witch:
TOM is the cat in Tom and Jerry:
Connections – Purple Group
🟪 starting with smooches (BUSSIN, KISSER, PECKISH, SMACKDOWN)
These refer to:
- BUSSIN > buss
- KISSER > kiss
- PECKISH > peck
- SMACKDOWN > smack
“Buss” was a new one to me! But there it is, right there in the dictionary.
Connections – Red Herrings
There are several words that mean face or mouth: PUSS, KISSER, MUG, GRILL.
A GRILL (as in a barbecue) might have a handle too.
If you’d like to chat about today’s game of Connections and just about anything else with me and a very lovely group of people, you can do just that in our Discord community. We’d love for you to hang out with us.
I’ll be back with another set of NYT Connections hints and answers tomorrow, as well as another edition of this one, all going well. You’ll be able to find both of those on my Forbes author page when the time comes (following me there helps me out too!). As for the weekend editions of my NYT Connections hints and answers column, I’m currently doing that via my newsletter, Pastimes.