Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained: Friday, July 31
How today's NYT Connections answers and red herrings fit together.
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Note: Make sure to complete today’s NYT Connections before reading further! We’ll be getting into spoilers for today’s game pretty quickly. If you need some help to complete the grid, you can find my NYT Connections hints and answers column for today right here:
ForbesToday’s NYT Connections Hints And Answers: Friday, July 31By Kris Holt
Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to my deeper dive into today’s Connections answers. The idea behind this is to help clear things up for anyone who isn’t sure how today’s groups fit together.
If I’ve missed any red herrings or misunderstood something, let me know via email or on Discord. I don’t typically look at X or check the comments here.
I’m going to assume that you’ve already beaten today’s game. We’re going straight into spoiler territory here. So, consider this your one and only warning.
Here are today’s NYT Connections answers explained (and any red herrings I spot) for Friday, July 31:
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Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained
Connections – Yellow Group
🟨 construct (FASHION, MODEL, MOLD, SHAPE)
Straightforward enough here, thanks to the category title.
Connections – Green Group
🟩 Super Mario figures (DINOSAUR, MUSHROOM, PLUMBER, PRINCESS)
These refer to:
- DINOSAUR > Yoshi
A mascot version of Mario character Yoshi (a green dinosaur) at a baseball game
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
- MUSHROOM > Toad (or Toadette). Mushrooms are also power-ups in many Mario games
Soft toys in the form of Nintendo character Toad, which has a mushroom-like head with red dots
AFP via Getty Images
- PLUMBER > it’s a-he, Mario (or Luigi)
A figure of Nintendo character Mario
AFP via Getty Images
- PRINCESS > Peach (or Daisy)
An actor dressed as Nintendo character Princess Peach
© 2025 Bloomberg Finance LP
Connections – Blue Group
🟦 fruits plus starting letter (DAPPLE, JDATE, SLIME, SPEAR)
These refer to:
- DAPPLE > apple
- JDATE > date
- SLIME > lime
- SPEAR > pear
JDATE is a dating app that primarily serves Jewish people.
Connections – Purple Group
🟪 starting with merriments (CHEERIOS, FUNGUS, GLEEK, JOYSTICK)
These refer to:
- CHEERIOS > cheer
- FUNGUS > fun
- GLEEK > glee
- JOYSTICK > joy
Connections – Red Herrings
Connections often has some red herrings. Let's take a look at today's (assuming I spotted any).
SSPL via Getty Images
FASHION and MODEL could have gone together, as could JOYSTICK and MUSHROOM, which can both have bulbous heads.
Today’s main red herring was probably MOLD, MUSHROOM, SLIME and FUNGUS. Ick.
If you’d like to chat about today’s game of Connections and just about anything else with me and a very lovely group of people, you can do just that in our Discord community. We’d love for you to hang out with us.
I’ll be back with another set of NYT Connections hints and answers on Monday, as well as another edition of this one, all going well. You’ll be able to find both of those on my Forbes author page when the time comes (following me there helps me out too!). As for the weekend editions of my NYT Connections hints and answers column, I’m currently doing that via my newsletter, Pastimes.