Connections Hint
Puzzle #1147 · August 1, 2026

NYT Connections Hints for August 1, 2026

Start with the spoiler-free hints. Go deeper only when you need to. Reveal answers on your own terms.

Saturday, August 1, 2026
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Today’s 16 Puzzle Words
Tap any word to see how it’s used in this puzzle
REAMBOULEVARDSHEETBUNDLEWALTZBALEBOREROLLS-ROYCESHAMCOUNTERSINKPHOENIXLOAFERTHROWCOMFORTERJORDANDRILL

Spoiler-Free Hints

Three levels — warmer as you read down
i Ultra safe

A direction for each group — no names given.

  • Cozy, soft items you'd find on a comfortable bed.
  • Stars recognized by the Academy for their acting in recent years.
  • Procedures to make or finish holes with tools.
  • Look closely at the beginning—an edible surprise awaits.
ii Warmer

What kind of thinking each group asks for.

  • Think about what lies under and over you in the bedroom.
  • These are surnames of performers who won a major film acting award after 2010.
  • Terms for actions a machinist takes to create or refine holes in metal or wood.
  • The trick is at the start of each word—think of a display case full of baked goods.
iii Mild spoilers

Pointed nudges on the words built to fool you.

  • These are types of bed coverings, including the one you pull up to your chin and a smaller decorative one.
  • Each is the last name of an Oscar-winning actor from the past 15 years, like someone who played a comic-book villain.
  • These machining operations all involve working on holes, from making them to smoothing their edges.
  • Each word begins with a bread shape—round, bun-like, or a loaf—hiding in plain sight.

Today’s Trap Words

The words engineered to mislead

Every Connections board plants a few decoys. Here are today’s, and why they pull you the wrong way.

COUNTERSINK

Contains 'counter' and 'sink,' misleading solvers into thinking of kitchen fixtures rather than a machining process.

BOULEVARD

Looks like it belongs in a category of street types, obscuring the hidden bread word 'boule' at its start.

LOAFER

Primarily a type of shoe, it might be grouped with clothing rather than a word that starts with a bread loaf.

SHAM

Can mean 'fake' or 'fraud,' so solvers might miss its meaning as a pillow covering.

Connections Answers — August 1, 2026

Tap any group to reveal it
Answers are hidden — tap a group to peek, or reveal all at once.
BEDDING
SHAM · SHEET · THROW · COMFORTER
Tap to reveal
OSCAR-WINNING ACTORS SINCE 2010
WALTZ · BALE · JORDAN · PHOENIX
Tap to reveal
PERFORM SOME HOLE MACHINING OPERATIONS
BORE · REAM · DRILL · COUNTERSINK
Tap to reveal
STARTING WITH BREAD SHAPES
LOAFER · BOULEVARD · BUNDLE · ROLLS-ROYCE
Tap to reveal
SEE ALSO:
NYT Wordle hints for August 1, 2026 NYT Pips hints for August 1, 2026 NYT Strands hints for August 1, 2026

Category Breakdown — Puzzle #1147

Why each group works — not just what it is

BEDDING

These four items are all types of bedding, from the main blanket (COMFORTER) to the decorative pillow covering (SHAM) and the versatile THROW.

OSCAR-WINNING ACTORS SINCE 2010

These surnames belong to actors who have won an acting Oscar since 2010, such as Christian BALE and Joaquin PHOENIX.

PERFORM SOME HOLE MACHINING OPERATIONS

These four verbs describe processes for making or refining holes in materials, from the basic DRILL to the more specialized REAM and COUNTERSINK.

STARTING WITH BREAD SHAPES

Each word starts with a bread shape: BOULE (as in BOULEVARD), BUN (BUNDLE), LOAF (LOAFER), and ROLLS (ROLLS-ROYCE).

Word Guide — All 16 Puzzle Words

What each word means in this puzzle
REAM
To smooth or slightly enlarge an existing hole using a reamer, for an exact fit.
BOULEVARD
A wide city street, its name beginning with 'boule,' a French term for a round loaf of bread.
SHEET
A large piece of fabric that covers a mattress, forming the base layer of bedding.
BUNDLE
A group of items tied together, starting with 'bun,' a small rounded bread roll.
WALTZ
Christoph Waltz, who won Oscars for Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012).
BALE
Christian Bale, the actor who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in The Fighter (2010).
BORE
In machining, to enlarge a hole using a boring tool, often for precision sizing.
ROLLS-ROYCE
A luxury car brand, starting with 'rolls,' the small individual bread portions.
SHAM
A decorative pillow covering often sold with a bedding set, designed to give a polished look to a bed.
COUNTERSINK
A machining process that creates a conical recess so a screw head sits flush with the surface.
PHOENIX
Joaquin Phoenix, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Joker (2019).
LOAFER
A slip-on shoe, with 'loaf' at the start—a shaped mass of bread—hiding the edible clue.
THROW
A small blanket often draped on a couch or the foot of a bed for warmth and style.
COMFORTER
A thick, quilted blanket often used as the top layer of bedding, providing warmth and decoration.
JORDAN
An actor with this surname won an Academy Award for acting in the 2010s or later.
DRILL
To make a hole using a rotating cutting tool, a fundamental machining operation.

Puzzle Design Analysis

Why the editor constructed it this way

Wyna Liu crafts a puzzle where the purple group's wordplay—concealing bread shapes inside street names, footwear, and luxury cars—feels delightfully hidden. The blue group of machining verbs provides a niche technical counterpoint to the cozy bedding in yellow. Meanwhile, the actors group leans on specific Oscar trivia, with words like SHAM and COUNTERSINK planting strong misdirection.

Difficulty & Analysis

How tough today’s board really plays
Overall
6.5/10
Most deceptive
COUNTERSINK

a textbook decoy

Hardest group
Bread-Shape Start

requires lateral thinking

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