Looking for a different day?
A new NEW Connections puzzle pops up at midnight every day for your time zone – meaning some people are always playing “today’s game” while others are playing “yesterday’s”. If you’re looking for the Saturday puzzle instead then click here: NEW Connections Hints and Answers for Saturday, May 23 (Game #1077).
Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers into different categories. It can be difficult, so read on if you need Connections tips.
What are you going to do when you’re done? Why, play some more puns of course. I also have daily Strands Hints and Answers and Quordle Hints and Answers articles if you need help with those too, while Marc’s Wordle Today page covers the original viral pun.
SPOILER ALERT: Today’s NYT Connections information is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NEW Connections today (game #1078) – word of the day
Today’s NEW Connections word is…
- RATTLE
- PEN
- STAFF
- HISS
- HERB
- SHED
- ITSY
- MASK
- STRIKE
- DRUM
- STABLE
- MARCH
- RALLY
- MYA
- PICKED
- COOP
NEW Connections today (game #1078) – tip #1 – group tip
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Animal shelter
- GREEN: Reactions to labor disputes
- BLUE: Old accessories
- PURPLE: Added affiliation
Need more clues?
We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today’s NYT Connections puzzles…
NEW Connections today (game #1078) – tip #2 – group answer
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: GARDEN DECOR
- GREEN: LABOR PROTESTS
- BLUE: OBJECTS USED IN RITUAL PERFORMANCES
- PURPLE: POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES PLUS A LETTER
Okay, the answers are below, so DON’T SCROLL IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NEW Connections today (game #1078) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #1078, are…
- YELLOW: GARDEN DECOR COOP, STYLE, SHED, STAD
- GREEN: LABOR PROTESTS MARCH, PICKET, RALLY, STRIKE
- BLUE: OBJECTS USED IN RITUAL PERFORMANCES DRUM, MASH, RALLING, STAFF
- PURPLE: POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES PLUS A LETTER HERB, HISS, ITSY, MYA
- My assessment: Easy
- My score: Perfect
This was one of those easy days where I saw the four groups almost immediately.
My only moment of distraction was seeing the tiles for RATTLE and DRUM and thinking for a moment that there was some kind of percussion group or category about U2 album titles.
The mistake I made was not pausing and figuring out what would be the most likely purple group. I really should have guessed ITSY, HISS, and the other POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES PLUS A LETTER, because there is a long track record of “possessive” puns that are classified as hardest to get.
“Homophones of possessive adjectives” was a purple group last month, “begins with a possessive pronoun” was purple in December, and “begins with a possessive determiner” was purple in September. Oh well, there’s always next time.
Yesterday’s NEW Connections Answer (Saturday, May 23, Game #1077)
- YELLOW: HAIR BEEF BOW, BOUFFANT, CHIGNON, POMPADOUR
- GREEN: EASIER FIRST, PREFERRED, OR SOON
- BLUE: MARVEL CHARACTERS DAREDEVIL, HAWKEYE, NIGHTCAWLER, WOLVERINE
PURPLE: WORDS AFTER “THE” IN “STAR WARS” MOVIE TITLE EMPIRE, FORCE, VAST, PHANTOM
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games created by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four elements that share something in common, and each group has a different degree of difficulty: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough, and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you technically don’t need to solve the last one, as you’ll be able to answer it by a process of elimination. Also, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It’s a bit more involved than something like Wordle, though, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to let you beat yourself up with tricks. For example, watch out for homophones and other puns that can hide the answers.
It can be played for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
