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NYT Connections hints & answers: Thursday, July 16, 2026 (#1202)

Updated: Thursday, July 16, 2026 · New puzzle daily at midnight US Eastern Time (5am UK). · Puzzle editor: Wyna Liu.

This page has every level of help for the NYT Connections puzzle #1202 of Thursday, July 16, 2026: 3 spoiler-free hint tiers that narrow things down step by step, followed by the complete answers with explanations — each behind its own tap-to-reveal card, so nothing is shown until you choose.

Stuck on today's Connections? Work through the hint tiers below — each one gives away a little more, so you can get exactly as much help as you want and still keep the win.

New to Connections? The four answer groups are colour-coded by difficulty: 🟡 yellow is the easiest, then 🟢 green, 🔵 blue, and 🟣 purple — the trickiest, usually built on wordplay. The hints below use those colours.

1One word from each group▸
  • Yellow (easiest): one of its words is “CLAY MASK”.
  • Green (easy): one of its words is “CHARCOAL”.
  • Blue (tricky): one of its words is “BULLSEYE”.
  • Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): one of its words is “DOT MATRIX”.
2Category hints (no answers)▸
  • Yellow (easiest): the theme is “Skincare products”.
  • Green (easy): the theme is “Shades of black”.
  • Blue (tricky): the theme is “Associated with precision”.
  • Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): the theme is “Starting with tiny marks”.
3One full group revealed▸
  • Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Skincare products”, and its four words are: CLAY MASK, EYE CREAM, PEEL, TONER.
★Today's full Connections answers, explained▸
  • Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Skincare products”. The words: CLAY MASK, EYE CREAM, PEEL, TONER.
  • Green (easy) — the connection is “Shades of black”. The words: CHARCOAL, INK, JET, PITCH.
  • Blue (tricky) — the connection is “Associated with precision”. The words: BULLSEYE, CLOCKWORK, LASER, NEEDLE.
  • Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay) — the connection is “Starting with tiny marks”. The words: DOT MATRIX, PERIOD PIECE, POINT BREAK, SPOT REMOVER.

Solved it (or spoiled it)? Play Connections on the official site — then come back tomorrow, or try another puzzle below.

Connections — common questions

What time does NYT Connections reset?

A new Connections puzzle is released daily at midnight US Eastern Time — that's 5am in the UK (4am during US daylight-saving transitions) and 12:00am for US East Coast players.

What do the Connections colours mean?

Yellow is the easiest group, then green, then blue, and purple is the trickiest — purple usually involves wordplay such as homophones, hidden words or 'words before/after X'.

How many mistakes are allowed in Connections?

You can make four mistakes before the puzzle ends. If you see 'one away…', exactly three of your four selected words belong together.

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