NYT Connections game #1148 for Sunday, August 2, 2026 has four groups built around conversational fillers, means or methods, familiar “MODE” phrases, and airport codes hidden inside longer words. Spoiler-controlled hints come first, followed by the complete answers and explanations.
Looking for the NYT Connections answers for Sunday, August 2, 2026? The puzzle is game #1148. If you want to preserve the solve, start with the spoiler-controlled hints below. The complete categories and 16 answers appear farther down.
Hints for Connections #1148 on August 2
Connections asks you to divide 16 tiles into four groups of four. The groups are commonly presented from yellow, the most accessible, through green and blue to purple, the trickiest. Because one word can appear to fit several ideas, it is usually better to test a possible group against the entire board before committing.
Try these clues in order. They become more specific as you go:
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- One group contains words people often use while speaking, pausing, or organizing a thought.
- One group consists of short words that can describe a route, channel, method, or means.
- One group becomes a familiar expression when each tile is followed by MODE.
- One group contains three-letter airport codes hidden inside longer words. Look inside the tiles rather than treating them as ordinary standalone words.
Need one more nudge? The hidden airport codes include abbreviations associated with Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City.
NYT Connections answers for August 2, 2026
Here are the four completed groups for game #1148:
| Color | Category | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Conversational filler words | ACTUALLY, LIKE, SO, WELL |
| Green | By means of | BY, PER, THROUGH, VIA |
| Blue | ___ MODE | À LA, AIRPLANE, BEAST, DARK |
| Purple | Airport codes hidden inside longer words | ASEA, FLAX, LORD, OLGA |
Why these are the Connections groups
Yellow: Conversational filler words
ACTUALLY, LIKE, SO, and WELL can all serve as conversational fillers, transitions, or hesitation markers. They are ordinary function words, which can make this set look less like a deliberate category and more like a collection of possible connectors.
Green: By means of
BY, PER, THROUGH, and VIA can express a route, channel, method, or means. For example, something can be sent by email, charged per hour, completed through a particular system, or delivered via a specific route.
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The tempting extra tile is À LA. Depending on context, it can suggest “in the manner of” or “in the style of,” so it may initially appear compatible with a means-related group. In this puzzle, however, it is needed for the separate phrase-completion category.
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Each of these tiles forms a familiar expression when followed by MODE:
- À LA MODE
- AIRPLANE MODE
- BEAST MODE
- DARK MODE
This is a phrase-based category rather than a conventional semantic group. À LA is the main deception: isolated on the board, it can look like a short preposition or phrase related to “by,” but the complete expression À LA MODE places it here.
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Purple: Airport codes hidden inside longer words
The purple group uses embedded three-letter airport codes. The tiles are not airport names themselves; each contains a code:
- ASEA contains SEA, the code for Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.
- FLAX contains LAX, the code for Los Angeles International Airport.
- LORD contains ORD, the code for Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
- OLGA contains LGA, the code for LaGuardia Airport in New York City.
In all four answers, the code appears as the final three letters, but the important solving idea is to search for a code inside a longer word rather than to look for four words that refer directly to airports. FLAX is a useful entry point because LAX is visually conspicuous. Once it is spotted, OLGA, LORD, and ASEA can be tested for the same pattern.
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The biggest traps in this puzzle
À LA can fit two tempting ideas
The board encourages a plausible but incorrect early grouping of BY, PER, THROUGH, VIA, and À LA. The first four make the exact “by means of” group, leaving À LA available to complete À LA MODE. When a candidate group has five seemingly suitable tiles, look for the one that forms a stronger, more specific relationship elsewhere.
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The purple group requires a change of viewpoint
ASEA, FLAX, LORD, and OLGA look like unrelated ordinary words. Their connection is orthographic: each is a container for a three-letter airport abbreviation. This type of wordplay is harder if you are unfamiliar with U.S. airport codes, but recognizing LAX provides a route into the rest of the group.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How Connections works
The daily game presents 16 words and asks players to divide them into four sets of four. A correct group is assigned one of four colors: yellow, green, blue, or purple, with purple generally representing the most difficult level. The challenge comes from misleading associations: a tile may appear to belong to more than one possible group until the intended phrase, wordplay pattern, or elimination becomes clear.
The puzzle is released daily, and the release time can depend on the player’s time zone. The game is available through the New York Times Games ecosystem on the web and mobile platforms. A Games subscription includes Connections along with other NYT games, although access, features, and subscription terms can change by region and over time.
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Quick recap
The August 2, 2026 Connections puzzle, game #1148, groups its tiles into conversational fillers, words meaning “by means of,” phrases that precede MODE, and longer words containing airport codes. The key decisions are keeping À LA for À LA MODE and recognizing SEA, LAX, ORD, and LGA inside the purple answers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the NYT Connections answers for August 2, 2026?
The NYT Connections answers for August 2, 2026, game #1148, are ACTUALLY, LIKE, SO, WELL; BY, PER, THROUGH, VIA; À LA, AIRPLANE, BEAST, DARK; and ASEA, FLAX, LORD, OLGA.
What is the purple category in Connections game #1148?
The purple group consists of airport codes hidden inside longer words: ASEA contains SEA, FLAX contains LAX, LORD contains ORD, and OLGA contains LGA.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchWhy is À LA in the MODE group?
À LA belongs with AIRPLANE, BEAST, and DARK because all four can be followed by MODE: À LA MODE, AIRPLANE MODE, BEAST MODE, and DARK MODE.
The Bottom Line
August 2, 2026 Connections answers: ACTUALLY, LIKE, SO, WELL; BY, PER, THROUGH, VIA; À LA, AIRPLANE, BEAST, DARK; and ASEA, FLAX, LORD, OLGA.
Quick Recap
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