Want a different day?
A new NYT Connections puzzle appears every day at midnight for your time zone – which means some people are still playing “today’s game” while others are playing “yesterday’s.” If you’re looking for Saturday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections Tips and Answers for Saturday, May 16 (Thu #1070).
Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the clever word game from the New York Times that challenges you to group answers into different categories. This can be difficult, so read on if you need tips on connections.
SPOILER WARNING: The information on NYT Connections today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (set #1071) – words of the day
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- STEEP
- PRIMARY
- STRAIN
- RIGID
- HIGH
- MAIN
- FLEECE
- GRAMMAR
- PIPE
- PIPE
- SQUEEZE
- BOIL
- DOUBLE
- GRADE
- POUR
- CHANNEL
NYT Connections today (game #1071) – clue #1 – group clues
What are the clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Plumbing
- GREEN: cheat on someone
- BLUE: Make a cup of tea
- PURPLE: Types of educational institutions
Need more clues?
We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four themed answers are for today’s NYT Connections riddles…
NYT Connections today (game #1071) – clue #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: CONDUIT
- GREEN: scam
- BLUE: VERBS FOR MAKING TEA
- PURPLE: “SCHOOL” MODIFIERS
That’s right, the answers are below, so DON’T SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1071) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections game #1071 are…
- YELLOW: CONDUIT DUCT, LINE, MAIN, PIPE
- GREEN: scam FLEECE, HOSE, SQUEEZE, RIGID
- BLUE: VERBS FOR MAKING TEA Boil, pour, soak, strain
- PURPLE: “SCHOOL” MODIFIERS GRADE, GRAMMAR, HIGH, PRIMARY
- My rating: Hard
- My rating: 1 error
I made a mistake today that could get me deported from the UK, where I am based.
The word STEEP immediately alerted me to the possibility of VERBS FOR MAKING TEA, but stupidly, I chose SQUEEZE, what you do with a tea bag, rather than STRAIN, what you do with tea leaves. The shame will live with me for years.
During this time, I had no such difficulty with words related to con and while I was thinking about plumbing diagrams rather than the word CONDUIT, I easily connected DUCT, LINE, MAIN and PIPE.
Answers from yesterday’s NYT Connections (Saturday May 16, match #1070)
- YELLOW: GLASSWARE CUP, FLUTE, STEIN, TUMBLER
- GREEN: DISORDER (WITH) Violin, mess, play, tinker
- BLUE: MUSICAL PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES ALLEGRO, FORTE, LARGO, PIANO
- PURPLE: ENDING WITH SYNONYMS OF “ASAP” BASSOON, BELFAST, NESQUICK, THERMOSTAT
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 difficulty level: green is easy, yellow is a little more difficult, blue is often quite difficult, and purple is usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you technically don’t need to solve the final question, as you will be able to answer it through a process of elimination. Additionally, you can make up to four mistakes, giving you some breathing room.
However, it’s a bit more complex than something like Wordle, and the game provides plenty of opportunities to trip you up with tricks. For example, watch out for homophones and other puns that could obscure the answers.
It is playable for free via the NYT Games website on computer or mobile.




