NYT Connections puzzle #1137 for Wednesday, July 22, 2026, contains a convincing rock-band trap that could easily cost players a mistake.
HIVES, STROKES, VINES and WHITE STRIPES look like a complete music category, but each belongs to a different correct group.
NYT Connections hints for July 22
- Yellow: Uncomfortable signs that the body is reacting to something.
- Green: Information recorded during a round of golf.
- Blue: Names used for posts on specific social-media platforms.
- Purple: Physical features of a black-and-white animal.
Need stronger clues? Yellow relates to allergy symptoms, green points to a golf scorecard, blue connects four platform-specific post names, and purple describes a zebra.
Rock-band trap: HIVES, STROKES, VINES and WHITE STRIPES suggest The Hives, The Strokes, The Vines and The White Stripes. However, submitting them together would use one word from every correct group.
Sports trap: HOLE, SCORE, STROKES and PINS may appear to form a broad sports category. The first three relate to golf, but PINS belongs with social-media posts.
Animal trap: HOOVES, MANE and TAIL suggest several animals. WHITE STRIPES is the word that identifies the animal specifically as a zebra.
Today’s NYT Connections answers
Reveal the Yellow Group
Category: Symptoms of an allergic reaction
Answers: HIVES, ITCHING, RASH, REDNESS
Each word describes a symptom that may appear during an allergic reaction. ITCHING and RASH are the clearest starting pair, while REDNESS helps confirm the skin-related connection.
Why it was tricky: HIVES strongly suggests the rock band The Hives and can pull players toward the false music category.
Reveal the Green Group
Category: On a golf scorecard
Answers: HOLE, PAR, SCORE, STROKES
A golf scorecard identifies each hole, lists its par and records a player’s score based on the number of strokes taken.
Best starting word: PAR is the most golf-specific clue. Once it is connected with HOLE and SCORE, STROKES becomes the natural fourth answer.
Reveal the Blue Group
Category: Platform-specific posts
Answers: PINS, SNAPS, TWEETS, VINES
Pins are associated with Pinterest, Snaps with Snapchat, Tweets with Twitter, now called X, and Vines were short videos posted on the former Vine platform.
Why it was tricky: VINES fits the false rock-band group, while PINS can suggest bowling, sewing or map locations.
Reveal the Purple Group
Category: Features of a zebra
Answers: HOOVES, MANE, TAIL, WHITE STRIPES
Zebras have hooves, an upright mane, a tail and a coat marked by distinctive black-and-white stripes.
Why it was tricky: WHITE STRIPES strongly evokes the band The White Stripes, making it the most misleading word in the puzzle.
What made Connections #1137 difficult? The puzzle was built around four words that created a convincing but incorrect music group. HIVES, STROKES, VINES and WHITE STRIPES each had to be separated and placed in a different category.
The blue group also required players to remember older platform terminology. VINES referred to posts on the discontinued Vine app, while TWEETS remains the traditional name associated with Twitter.
Solving lesson: When four words form an obvious pop-culture category, check whether each has a more precise literal meaning elsewhere. Today’s music trap was designed to take one answer from every correct group.
Players can attempt the official puzzle and review their results on the New York Times Connections page.
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