Today’s Connections categories were a bit confusing and had an odd combination of words that left me thinking for a while. It took me three wrong submissions to finally guess all the categories correctly. So, here are the NYT Connections categories for July 18, 2025.

Connections is released at midnight in your time zone. In order to accommodate all time zones, there will be two Connections Companions live every day, dated based on Eastern Standard Time. If you find yourself on the wrong companion, check the number of your puzzle and go to this page to find the corresponding companion.

Here's today's Strands answers and hints. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Strands, every day.