Today’s Connection puzzle is a real headscratcher. If you’re struggling to find a breakthrough, you’ve landed on the right page. We’ll start you off with some spoiler-free hints to nudge you in the direction of the answers. Then, we’ll give you one word from each category. This will be followed by the revelation of all the themes. Finally, you can have the answers. So, without further ado, here are all the hints, clues, and answers to today’s NYT Connections (#1,078, May 24, 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 Connections 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
- RATTLE
- PEN
- STAFF
- HISS
- HERB
- SHED
- ITSY
- MASK
- STRIKE
- DRUM
- STABLE
- MARCH
- RALLY
- MYA
- PICKET
- COOP
Hints for NYT Connections (#1,078) May 24, 2026
Let’s get you started with some general, spoiler-free hints.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Shelter for animals.
- 🟢Green Group: When workers organise.
- 🔵Blue Group: Accessories in a religious or cultural show.
- 🟣Purple Group: Focus on the first part of the words.
One Word Per Category (Contains Spoilers)
Can’t seem to find an in? We’ll give you one word from each category.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Coop.
- 🟢Green Group: March.
- 🔵Blue Group: Drum.
- 🟣Purple Group: Herb.
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: Farm Fixtures.
- 🟢Green Group: Labor Protest Actions.
- 🔵Blue Group: Objects Used In A Ritual Performance.
- 🟣Purple Group: Possessive Adjectives Plus A Letter.
Answers to NYT Connections (#1,078) Today (May 24, 2026)
Close to waving the white flag? Fine, we’ll give you the answers.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Coop, Pen, Shed, Stable. (Farm Fixtures)
These words seem easy to connect in hindsight. ‘Shed’ being a part of the snake-related misdirect may have thrown some off.
- 🟢Green Group: March, Picket, Rally, Strike. (Labor Protest Actions)
Again, a decent-ish category that wasn’t hard to get. ‘Drum’, being a protest staple, could’ve been a part of this category if it weren’t specific to labour and worker organising activities.
- 🔵Blue Group: Drum, Mask, Rattle, Staff. (Objects Used In A Ritual Performance)
This was one of the harder Blue categories we’ve come across in a while. ‘Rattle’ was the snake-related misdirect in this group.
- 🟣Purple Group: Herb, Hiss, Itsy, Mya. (Possessive Adjectives Plus A Letter)
If you’re a Connections veteran, today’s Purple group shouldn’t have been hard for you. Once you start looking at words beyond their meanings, the common connections stand out. ‘Hiss’ was the snake-related misdirect here.
Answers to yesterday’s puzzle (#1,077, May 23, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Beehive, Bouffant, Chignon, Pompadour. (Hairdos)
- 🟢Green Group: First, Preferably, Rather, Sooner. (More Readily)
- 🔵Blue Group: Daredevil, Hawkeye, Nightcrawler, Wolverine. (Marvel Characters)
- 🟣Purple Group: Empire, Force, Last, Phantom. (Words After ‘The’ In ‘Star Wars’ Movie Titles)
Answers to NYT Connections #1,076 (May 22, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Check In, Follow Up, Reconnect, Touch Base. (Reach Back Out)
- 🟢Green Group: Convention, Custom, Social Norm, Unwritten Rule. (The Way Things Are Done)
- 🔵Blue Group: Assembly Line, Baggage Claim, Checkout Lane, Revolving Sushi Bar. (Places With Conveyor Belts)
- 🟣Purple Group: Carry-On, El Nino, Loosey-Goosey, Tailor-Made (Starting With Name Homophones)
Answers to NYT Connections #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)
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How did other solvers do today?
NYT’s early testers rated today’s Connection puzzle 2.5 out of 5. This puts it in the intermediate difficulty level. Let us know how you fared in the comments!
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