Today’s Connections puzzle isn’t as unforgiving as the ones we’ve seen this month. But there is one red herring that may trip you up. If you like to stay on the side of caution, we’ll get you started with some general, spoiler-free hints. Then, we’ll reveal one word from each category, followed by the list of themes. Finally, you can have the answers. So, without further ado, here are all the hints, clues, and answers you need for today’s NYT Connections (#1,076, May 22, 2026).
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In This Article
What is Connections?
After Wordle, Connections is the New York Times’ most popular word game. The rules are simple. You need to find words with a common theme and group them into 4 groups of 4. The 16-word grid is designed with an increasing level of difficulty. The Yellow group is the easiest to spot, followed by Green, Blue, and Purple. The misdirects and red herrings can trip you up, but they also make the puzzle more fun. You can play the game in the NYT Games app or on the NYT website.
Some tips to solve Connections
Look for the obvious patterns: Not every category in the puzzle is confusing. The Yellow and Green category words are relatively easy to spot. However, if something seems too obvious, it could be a red herring. Typically, the first two categories comprise verbs and adjectives. The misdirects are often nouns.
Double-check your submissions: ‘Do not overthink’ is usually a good tip for solving most puzzles, but it doesn’t really apply to Connections. Before submitting a set of words, you should always check whether they fit somewhere else too.
Hit a dead end? Use the shuffle button: The shuffle button at the bottom of the grid exists for a reason. Placing the words in different positions can spark new connections. Think of it as a mental refresh. New patterns will emerge, and you may be able to find a breakthrough.
Tackle the Purple category with extra caution: The Connections team is known to serve up the toughest and most unexpected words for the Purple category. Here are some of the common tropes that you should look out for:
- Homophones (For example: ‘Where’, ‘Wear’, ‘Ware’, and ‘Weir’)
- Words within words (For example: ‘Slip’, ‘Hear’, ‘Keyes’, and ‘Undiagnosed’ could be ‘Words containing parts of the face’)
- Words minus a letter (For example: ‘Anther’, ‘Easel’, ‘Hark’, and ‘Lama’ could be ‘Animals minus starting letter’)
- Words preceded or followed by another word (For example: ‘Face’, ‘Sports’, ‘Note’, and ‘Year’ could be ‘____ Book’)
Here’s your grid for today
- LOOSEY-GOOSEY
- CONVENTION
- CHECK IN
- BAGGAGE CLAIM
- CARRY-ON
- CUSTOM
- CHECKOUT LATE
- FOLLOW UP
- ASSEMBLY LINE
- EL NIÑO
- SOCIAL NORM
- TOUCH BASE
- REVOLVING SUSHI BAR
- UNWRITTEN RULE
- RECONNECT
- TAILOR-MADE
Hints for NYT Connections (#1,076) May 22, 2026
Let’s get you started with some general, spoiler-free hints.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Get in touch at a later time.
- 🟢Green Group: Official or unofficial guidelines for doing something.
- 🔵Blue Group: Things moving forward automatically.
- 🟣Purple Group: Sounds like a person.
One Word Per Category (Contains Spoilers)
Can’t seem to find an in? We’ll give you one word from each category.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Check In.
- 🟢Green Group: Convention.
- 🔵Blue Group: Assembly Line.
- 🟣Purple Group: Carry-On.
List of Themes (Major Spoilers)
Maybe getting to know the common themes among the words will help you spot them faster. Here are all the categories for today.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Reach Back Out.
- 🟢Green Group: The Way Things Are Done.
- 🔵Blue Group: Places With Conveyor Belts.
- 🟣Purple Group: Starting With Name Homophones.
Answers to NYT Connections (#1,076) Today (May 22, 2026)
Close to waving the white flag? Fine, we’ll give you the answers.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Check In, Follow Up, Reconnect, Touch Base. (Reach Back Out)
A pretty straightforward connection befitting a Yellow group. ‘Check In’ is the only misdirect here, as it goes with other airport-themed words as well.
- 🟢Green Group: Convention, Custom, Social Norm, Unwritten Rule. (The Way Things Are Done)
This one didn’t require much thinking either. ‘Custom’ was the airport-themed misdirect.
- 🔵Blue Group: Assembly Line, Baggage Claim, Checkout Lane, Revolving Sushi Bar. (Places With Conveyor Belts)
‘Baggage Claim’ continued the airport-themed misdirect into the Blue group, but the other entries made it easier to solve.
- 🟣Purple Group: Carry-On, El Nino, Loosey-Goosey, Tailor-Made (Starting With Name Homophones)
Easily the toughest category to crack in today’s puzzle. If you didn’t get it, the first word of each entry sounds like a name: Carey, Elle, Lucy, and Taylor.
Answers to yesterday’s puzzle (#1,075, May 21, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Chess, Pecan, Pumpkin, Shoofly. (Kinds of Pies)
- 🟢Green Group: Caboose, Can, Moon, Peach. (Things Associated with Butts)
- 🔵Blue Group: Advantage, Deuce, Forty, Love. (Tennis Scoring Terms)
- 🟣Purple Group: Colonel, Honey, Hot, Yellow. (___ Mustard)
Answers to NYT Connections #1,074 (May 20, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: High, Medium, Off, Simmer. (Stove Knob Settings)
- 🟢Green Group: Concentration, Force, Intensity, Might. (Potency)
- 🔵Blue Group: Interval, Key, Mode, Scale. (Music Theory Concepts)
- 🟣Purple Group: Groundhog, Independence, Training, The Longest (“___ Day” Movies)
Answers to NYT Connections #1,073 (May 19, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Babble, Cry, Nurse, Teethe. (Things Babies Do)
- 🟢Green Group: Alter, Cook, Doctor, Fudge. (Modify Deceptively)
- 🔵Blue Group: Blubber, Deenie, Forever, Superfudge. (Judy Blume Books)
- 🟣Purple Group: Founder, Salon, Surgeon, Trot. (Fish Minus A Letter)
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How did other solvers do today?
NYT’s early testers rated today’s Connection puzzle 1.8 out of 5. This puts it in the easy difficulty level. Let us know how you fared in the comments!
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