NYT Connections #1139 Hints and Solutions for July 24, 2026

The Friday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #1139, serving up a grid that rewards a sharp ear, a feel for conversational verbs, some baseball knowledge, and a knack for separating movement from memory.

What Makes Connections Tick

For newcomers, NYT Connections presents 16 words that must be sorted into four thematic groups of four. The twist? You're limited to four mistakes, and the color-coded difficulty system (yellow being easiest, purple being trickiest) means surface-level connections often mislead.

Since its June 2023 launch, Connections has carved out its niche in the Times' puzzle ecosystem, standing alongside Wordle and the crossword as a daily ritual for millions of players worldwide. The game's genius lies in its red herrings, words that could fit multiple categories but belong in only one.

Today's Grid at a Glance

Here are the 16 words staring back at you in puzzle #1139:

SPARK | CANTER | LLAMA | JOG
WALK | YAK | SINGLE | NONE
RAMBLE | PROMPT | FRYER | DRONE
REFRESH | STRIKEOUT | BABBLE | HOME RUN

A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.

Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)

Yellow Category Nudge: Think about what someone does when a brief answer turns into an endless monologue.

Green Category Clue: Focus on the possible results of one player's turn at the plate.

Blue Category Hint: Look for verbs describing how a forgotten detail can return to your thoughts.

Purple Category Teaser: Say the remaining terms aloud and listen for people associated with religious traditions.

Click to expand

The Full Solutions

Last chance to solve independently: answers below

---

---

---

---

---

Yellow (Talk At Length): BABBLE, DRONE, RAMBLE, YAK

BABBLE, DRONE, RAMBLE, and YAK can all mean to talk at length, often with an implication that the listener has heard enough.

RAMBLE is the useful decoy because it can describe wandering on foot, putting it near WALK and JOG without joining either one's final group.

Green (Outcomes For A Batter): HOME RUN, SINGLE, STRIKEOUT, WALK

HOME RUN, SINGLE, STRIKEOUT, and WALK are all outcomes for a batter during a plate appearance.

WALK is the main trap here because its everyday movement sense points toward JOG and the wandering sense of RAMBLE.

Blue (Bring To Mind, As A Memory): JOG, PROMPT, REFRESH, SPARK

JOG, PROMPT, REFRESH, and SPARK can each describe bringing a memory back to mind, as in jogging, prompting, refreshing, or sparking someone's recollection.

JOG invites a movement-based pairing with WALK, while PROMPT can look like a noun or instruction instead of a memory-related verb.

Purple (Homophones Of Religious Roles): CANTER, FRYER, LLAMA, NONE

CANTER, FRYER, LLAMA, and NONE are homophones of religious roles: cantor, friar, lama, and nun.

The trick depends on sound rather than spelling, so reading the leftovers aloud exposes the shared pattern cleanly.

Click to expand

The Verdict

The talking set should fall first because all four words work naturally as verbs for prolonged speech.

The real trap is the movement cluster suggested by RAMBLE, WALK, and JOG, which pulls one word from each of three different answers.

The purple group decides the finish, since CANTER, FRYER, LLAMA, and NONE only lock together once their religious-role homophones are heard.

Reset and Repeat

Today's best turn is the final sound-based reveal, which transforms four ordinary spellings into a precise set of roles. Reset the board tomorrow and listen as closely as you look.

For now, puzzle #1139 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.