Struggling to find the common themes in today’s Connections grid? We empathise with you. Today’s puzzle is a headscratcher. Luckily, we solved it ahead of time and have all the answers for you. But we won’t give them out right away. First, we’ll give you some spoiler-free hints to help you solve the puzzle on your own. Then, you can have one word from each category. Finally, we’ll reveal the official list of themes, followed by all the answers. Here are all the hints, clues, and answers to today’s NYT Connections (#1,073, May 19, 2026).
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In This Article
What is Connections?
Connections is a daily word game from the New York Times. It is the most popular online game in the newspaper’s arsenal after Wordle. The rules are pretty simple to follow. You are presented with a 16-word 4×4 grid. The aim is to find the words with common connections. Each puzzle has 4 groups of 4 words with common themes. These groups are arranged by their difficulty level – Yellow being the easiest to solve, followed by Green, Blue, and Purple. You get 4 attempts to crack the code. You can play the game in the NYT Games app or on the NYT website.
Here’s your grid for today
- FOREVER
- SALON
- COOK
- SURGEON
- NURSE
- DOCTOR
- FUDGE
- SUPERFUDGE
- CRY
- BLUBBER
- TROT
- ALTER
- FOUNDER
- BABBLE
- DEENIE
- TEETHIE
Some tips to keep in mind
Look for the obvious themes: 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 before submitting your words: ‘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 vigilance: 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: ‘Pear’, ‘Pair’, ‘Pare’, and ‘Pere’)
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’)
Hints for NYT Connections (#1,073) May 19, 2026
Let’s get you started with some general, spoiler-free hints.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Associated with infants.
- 🟢Green Group: Dishonestly falsify something.
- 🔵Blue Group: Titles by an author whose initials are JB.
- 🟣Purple Group: Aquatic creatures.
One Word Per Category (Contains Spoilers)
Can’t seem to find an in? We’ll give you one word from each category.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Babble.
- 🟢Green Group: Alter.
- 🔵Blue Group: Blubber.
- 🟣Purple Group: Founder.
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: Things Babies Do.
- 🟢Green Group: Modify Deceptively.
- 🔵Blue Group: Judy Blume Books.
- 🟣Purple Group: Fish Minus A Letter.
Answers to NYT Connections (#1,073) Today (May 19, 2026)
Close to waving the white flag? Fine, we’ll give you the answers.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Babble, Cry, Nurse, Teethe. (Things Babies Do)
Not a hard spot once you notice Teethe, Cry, and Babble in the grid. Nurse is the obvious misdirect here, as it goes with Doctor and Surgeon too.
- 🟢Green Group: Alter, Cook, Doctor, Fudge. (Modify Deceptively)
Fudge and Superfudge may look similar, but Connections veterans know that those kinds of words rarely go together. If this was the first category you solved, you must have been cooking today.
- 🔵Blue Group: Blubber, Deenie, Forever, Superfudge. (Judy Blume Books)
Those unfamiliar with Judy Blume’s work had no way of guessing this category. If you’re like us, these must have been the final four words in your grid.
- 🟣Purple Group: Founder, Salon, Surgeon, Trot. (Fish Minus A Letter)
Not the hardest purple category words we’ve seen. F(l)ounder, Sal(m)on, S(t)urgeon, and Tro(u)t are the varieties of fish being referred here.
Answers to yesterday’s puzzle
- 🟡Yellow Group: Pair, Pare, Pear, Pere. (Homphones)
- 🟢Green Group: Blow, Crack, Pop, Split. (Rupture)
- 🔵Blue Group: Padre, Red, Royal, Twin. (MLB Player)
- 🟣Purple Group: Cheap, Earp, Lump, Wiki. (Fruit Anagrams)
Answers to NYT Connections (#1,071, May 17, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Duct, Line, Main, Pipe. (Conduit)
- 🟢Green Group: Fleece, Hose, Squeeze, Stiff. (Swindle)
- 🔵Blue Group: Boil, Pour, Steep, Strain. (Tea-Making Verbs)
- 🟣Purple Group: Grade, Grammar, High, Primary. (‘School’ Modifiers)
Answers to NYT Connections (#1,070, May 16, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Coupe, Flute, Stein, Tumbler. (Glassware)
- 🟢Green Group: Fiddle, Mess, Play, Tinker. (Mess Around With)
- 🔵Blue Group: Allegro, Forte, Largo, Piano. (Music Performance Directions)
- 🟣Purple Group: Bassoon, Belfast, Nesquick, Thermostat. (Ending in Synonyms for “ASAP”)
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How did other solvers do today?
NYT’s early testers rated today’s Connection puzzle 2.3 out of 5. This puts it in the medium difficulty level. Let us know how you fared in the comments!
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