Red Herring Answers for July 12, 2025
All 16 words from the Saturday board, kept in their groups. 7 of them carry a note explaining the link.
Red Herring Answers for July 12, 2025
Every word from the Saturday board — the 3 groups and the 4 red herrings that belong to none of them. Browse the rest of 2025 or the complete archive.
Billy Joel Songs
Group · 4 wordsCanadian Universities
Group · 4 words- Queen'sQueen's University in Ontario was chartered by Queen Victoria in 1841.
- McGillNotable alumni of McGill University include songwriter Leonard Cohen, basketball inventor James Naismith, and actor William Shatner.
- TrentIn 1969 Trent University in Ontario became the first in Canada to offer indigenous studies.
- BrockThe university is named for Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, who died in battle in the War of 1812 near the present-day campus location.
Famous Bridges
Group · 4 words- CharlesKing Charles IV laid the first stone of Prague's Charles Bridge in 1357. Its most recent renovation began in 2019 and is expected to take 20 years.
- Tower
- Golden Gate
- Brooklyn
The Links Behind the July 12, 2025 Groups
Vienna — Billy Joel Songs
"Vienna" was included on "The Stranger" in 1977. Joel released a video for the song in April 2024.
Honesty — Billy Joel Songs
"Honesty" was nominated for Best Song of the Year at the 1980 Grammys.
Queen's — Canadian Universities
Queen's University in Ontario was chartered by Queen Victoria in 1841.
McGill — Canadian Universities
Notable alumni of McGill University include songwriter Leonard Cohen, basketball inventor James Naismith, and actor William Shatner.
Trent — Canadian Universities
In 1969 Trent University in Ontario became the first in Canada to offer indigenous studies.
Brock — Canadian Universities
The university is named for Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, who died in battle in the War of 1812 near the present-day campus location.
Charles — Famous Bridges
King Charles IV laid the first stone of Prague's Charles Bridge in 1357. Its most recent renovation began in 2019 and is expected to take 20 years.
Where these themes go next
Themes come back with different words. The recurring ones each have a page collecting every word they have used — see them all on the Red Herring hub.
Three Habits That Crack a Red Herring Board
Count to sixteen before you group anything
Every board is three groups of four plus four red herrings. Four words are meant to be left over, and players who forget that spend their time forcing a fourth group that was never there.
Solve the narrowest theme first
One group is always more specific than the others — a named set like "Mouse, Characters" rather than a loose one like "Strong Words". Lock that group first: each correct group removes four candidates from everything else on the board.
A word that fits two groups is usually a decoy
The herrings are chosen to look plausible in more than one place. When a word could sit in two themes, that ambiguity is the tell — set it aside rather than committing it to the group it fits slightly better. Any board in the archive is practice for it.
How to Solve a Red Herring Board
The order that clears a board fastest.
Count to sixteen first
Every board is three groups of four plus four red herrings. Knowing four words are meant to be left over stops you forcing a fourth group that does not exist.
Start with the tightest theme
One group is always more specific than the others — on July 12, 2025 that was Billy Joel Songs. Lock the group you are surest of, because each correct group removes four candidates from the rest.
Treat near-misses as suspects
A word that almost fits two groups is usually a herring. The puzzle is built so the decoys look plausible; plausibility is the tell, not the proof.
Verified Answers, Not Guesses
How we verify every dated board in the archive, group by group, with the red herrings kept separate
Each board is taken from the published puzzle for that date and re-checked against the source before it goes live. Notes explaining a link are kept as the source wrote them. The full routine is in our methodology, and the standards each page is held to are in the editorial policy.
Reviewed by Priya Raghunathan, Word Games Editor at Puzzle Solved. The full checking routine is in the methodology, and the standards every page is held to are in the editorial policy.
Last checked — Aug 25, 2026