Connections Hint
Puzzle #1126 · July 11, 2026

NYT Connections Hints for July 11, 2026

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

Saturday, July 11, 2026
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Today’s 16 Puzzle Words
Tap any word to see how it’s used in this puzzle
WOODYTRAPEZEFLATCANNONGLASSYBOCCEUNICYCLEAARDVARKEBBINGSTILTSJESSIESTILLCALMSLINKYTWIDDLEBO PEEP

Spoiler-Free Hints

Three levels — warmer as you read down
i Ultra safe

A direction for each group — no names given.

  • These are things you'd find in a lively, thrilling spectacle.
  • A placid state, often used to describe a liquid surface.
  • Some beloved personalities from a popular animated world.
  • These words share an invisible bond — ignore what they mean.
ii Warmer

What kind of thinking each group asks for.

  • Think of equipment used by performers who delight audiences with daring feats under a big top.
  • These terms are often applied to a serene body of water, reflecting like a mirror.
  • These are names of characters from an iconic animated series where toys have adventures.
  • You'll need to examine the spelling and positions of certain doubled letters.
iii Mild spoilers

Pointed nudges on the words built to fool you.

  • These are all tools of the trade for a ringmaster's troupe, used in daring acts.
  • These words are all synonyms for a body of water that is perfectly smooth and undisturbed.
  • These are all names of characters from a groundbreaking computer-animated film franchise about toys.
  • The double letters in each word appear exactly at the index corresponding to that letter's place in the alphabet.

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.

EBBING

It seems to fit the water theme perfectly — ebbing refers to the tide going out, but it's actually part of the wordplay group.

BOCCE

This looks like a ball sport, potentially leading you to hunt for other games, but it's actually in the tricky letter-pattern category.

AARDVARK

An unusual animal name that might tempt you to search for other critters, but it belongs in a spelling-based category.

Connections Answers — July 11, 2026

Tap any group to reveal it
Answers are hidden — tap a group to peek, or reveal all at once.
CIRCUS EQUIPMENT
STILTS · CANNON · UNICYCLE · TRAPEZE
Tap to reveal
UNDISTURBED, AS WATER
STILL · GLASSY · FLAT · CALM
Tap to reveal
"TOY STORY" CHARACTERS
SLINKY · WOODY · BO PEEP · JESSIE
Tap to reveal
DOUBLE LETTERS APPEARING IN THAT LETTER'S ALPHABETICAL POSITION
AARDVARK · BOCCE · EBBING · TWIDDLE
Tap to reveal
SEE ALSO:
NYT Wordle hints for July 11, 2026 NYT Pips hints for July 11, 2026 NYT Strands hints for July 11, 2026

Category Breakdown — Puzzle #1126

Why each group works — not just what it is

CIRCUS EQUIPMENT

Cannon, stilts, trapeze, and unicycle are all classic apparatuses you'd find under the big top. They each evoke the thrilling, death-defying world of circus performance.

UNDISTURBED, AS WATER

Calm, flat, glassy, and still are all adjectives describing a body of water when it's completely smooth, like a mirror, without any waves or ripples.

"TOY STORY" CHARACTERS

Bo Peep, Jessie, Slinky, and Woody are beloved characters from Pixar's Toy Story franchise. They range from a shepherdess to a cowboy, and a pull-toy dog.

DOUBLE LETTERS APPEARING IN THAT LETTER'S ALPHABETICAL POSITION

Aardvark (AA at position 1), bocce (CC at position 3), ebbing (BB at position 2), and twiddle (DD at position 4) each contain a double letter that sits exactly at the index matching that letter's alphabet rank.

Word Guide — All 16 Puzzle Words

What each word means in this puzzle
WOODY
The main cowboy doll character from Toy Story, voiced by Tom Hanks, with a pull-string and a sheriff badge.
TRAPEZE
A swinging horizontal bar hung from ropes, used by aerialists to perform flips and catches high in the air.
FLAT
Describes water that has no waves or ripples, like a calm sea or a lake on a windless day.
CANNON
In the circus, a cannon is used to launch a performer into a net or across the tent in a daring stunt known as the human cannonball.
GLASSY
Used to describe water so smooth and undisturbed that it looks like glass, reflecting its surroundings.
BOCCE
A ball sport related to bowls; here it's notable for the double C that appears starting at the third letter, matching C's alphabet rank.
UNICYCLE
A one-wheeled cycle often ridden by jugglers or clowns in circus acts, requiring exceptional balance.
AARDVARK
An African burrowing mammal; here chosen for its double A at the start, which sits at position 1, matching A's place in the alphabet.
EBBING
Means receding or flowing out, like the tide; but in this puzzle it's not about water, its double B at position 2 fits the pattern.
STILTS
Tall poles strapped to performers' legs for walking high above the ground, a classic circus and festival act.
JESSIE
A cowgirl character from Toy Story 2, known for her red hat, braided hair, and spirited 'yodel-ay-hee-hoo' personality.
STILL
Another synonym for water without movement; also can mean quiet or unmoving, perfectly describing a placid pond.
CALM
Refers to water that is completely still, with no wind or disturbance creating waves.
SLINKY
A stretchable spring toy and a character in Toy Story; Slinky Dog is Woody's loyal dachshund with a metal coil body.
TWIDDLE
To twist or fiddle with something; in this puzzle, the double D at position 4 aligns with D being the fourth alphabet letter.
BO PEEP
A porcelain shepherdess character from Toy Story, originally a lamp in Andy's room, known for her crook and bonnet.

Puzzle Design Analysis

Why the editor constructed it this way

This puzzle primes solvers with the watery adjectives, then uses 'ebbing' as a deft red herring that feels aquatic but lives in the wordplay group. The Toy Story quartet is a pop-culture anchor that feels easy, while the circus set is vividly thematic. The purple category is a classic hidden-structure trick: counting letter positions and mapping them to the alphabet forces lateral thinking, and the unusual words 'aardvark' and 'bocce' deliberately obscure the pattern.

Difficulty & Analysis

How tough today’s board really plays
Overall
5.5/10
Most deceptive
EBBING

a textbook decoy

Hardest group
Alphabetical Doubles

requires lateral thinking

Connections Strategy Guides

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