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NYT Connections Puzzle #1117 — Answers & Solution
Thursday, July 2, 2026 · Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hard
🧩 NYT Connections Puzzle #1117 — Complete Answers
- 🟨 Yellow – They Impersonate Other Things: COPYCAT, MIME, MOCKINGBIRD, T-1000
- 🟩 Green – Old-Timey Names For Things We Still Use: LOOKING GLASS, SPECTACLES, TALKIE, WATER CLOSET
- 🟦 Blue – Starting With Nicknames: BILLY GOAT, DAN DAN NOODLES, RICH TEXT, TOM-TOM
- 🟪 Purple – Starting With Sports Venues: COURT JESTER, DIAMOND RING, FIELD MOUSE, TRACK RECORD
📋 All 16 Words — Puzzle #1117
✅ Full Answers — Puzzle #1117
🟨 Yellow — They Impersonate Other Things
🟩 Green — Old-Timey Names For Things We Still Use
🟦 Blue — Starting With Nicknames
🟪 Purple — Starting With Sports Venues
🔍 Detailed Breakdown
🟨 Yellow (Easiest) — They Impersonate Other Things
The easiest category in Puzzle #1117 is "They Impersonate Other Things". The four words are:
- COPYCAT
- MIME
- MOCKINGBIRD
- T-1000
🟩 Green (Medium) — Old-Timey Names For Things We Still Use
The medium category in Puzzle #1117 is "Old-Timey Names For Things We Still Use". The four words are:
- LOOKING GLASS
- SPECTACLES
- TALKIE
- WATER CLOSET
🟦 Blue (Hard) — Starting With Nicknames
The hard category in Puzzle #1117 is "Starting With Nicknames". The four words are:
- BILLY GOAT
- DAN DAN NOODLES
- RICH TEXT
- TOM-TOM
🟪 Purple (Hardest) — Starting With Sports Venues
The hardest category in Puzzle #1117 is "Starting With Sports Venues". The four words are:
- COURT JESTER
- DIAMOND RING
- FIELD MOUSE
- TRACK RECORD
🎯 Strategy Tips for Puzzle #1117
Difficulty: ★★★★☆ (4/5) - Challenging. Strategy: Start with yellow if you're a pop culture fan—T-1000, the liquid metal Terminator that impersonates people, is the key insight that unlocks this "things that copy/mimic" theme. Green requires vocabulary knowledge but SPECTACLES and LOOKING GLASS are recognizable archaic terms. Blue demands careful examination of first words: BILLY (William), DAN (Daniel), RICH (Richard), TOM (Thomas)—all common nickname patterns. Purple is brutally clever wordplay requiring you to see sports venues hidden in plain sight: COURT jester (basketball/tennis court), DIAMOND ring (baseball diamond), FIELD mouse (football/soccer field), TRACK record (running track). Pro tip: If you spot three old-fashioned words, check if the fourth is also vintage terminology. The purple category is the puzzle's crown jewel—it tests linguistic creativity rather than knowledge.
⚠️ Red Herring Warning: Multiple misleading connections exist: MOCKINGBIRD and FIELD MOUSE might seem like an "animals" category; RICH TEXT and TRACK RECORD could be confused as computer/technology terms; TOM-TOM might be seen as a percussion instrument or GPS brand rather than starting with the nickname "Tom"; DIAMOND RING and LOOKING GLASS seem like jewels or fancy objects; WATER CLOSET and COURT JESTER might evoke royal/palace imagery. The purple category is especially tricky because COURT, DIAMOND, FIELD, and TRACK aren't immediately recognizable as sports venues when embedded in these common phrases—solvers might miss that a diamond is a baseball field, a court is for basketball/tennis, a field is for football/soccer, and a track is for running. T-1000 requires specific Terminator 2 knowledge about the liquid metal villain's shapeshifting abilities.
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