NYT Connections #1,085 Guide: Hints and Answers Today (May 31, 2026)

Racking your brain to find the common themes in today’s Connections? We’ll make it easy for you. As you scroll down, you’ll see some spoiler-free hints to set you on the path to the correct answers. If that doesn’t help, you can have one word from each category. Then, we’ll reveal the list of themes and all of the answers. So, without further ado, here are all the hints and answers you need to solve NYT Connections #1,085 today (May 31, 2026).

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What is Connections?

Connections is one of the most popular online word games from The New York Times, closely trailing behind Wordle. The rules of the game are simple. You are presenting with a 4×4 grid comprising 16 words. Each grid hides 4 groups consisting of 4 words with a common connection. The difficulty range of these groups varies from Yellow (Easy) to Purple (Hard). You get 4 attempts to solve the puzzle. 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

• BUTTER
• SALT
• STEAK
• BREAK
• JACK
• SOAK
• POCKET
• SPINE
• RUBBER DUCK
• TAR
• RACK
• SCHOOL BUS
• PIKACHU
• SEA DOG
• SASH
• CUE

Hints for NYT Connections (#1,085) May 31, 2026

Let’s get you started with some general, spoiler-free hints.

• 🟡Yellow Group: They share the same colour.
• 🟢Green Group: Related to cue sports.
• 🔵Blue Group: Aye, aye, Captain!
• 🟣Purple Group: Lumber.

One Word Per Category (Contains Spoilers)

Can’t seem to find an in? We’ll give you one word from each category.

• 🟡Yellow Group: Butter.
• 🟢Green Group: Break.
• 🔵Blue Group: Jack.
• 🟣Purple Group: Sash.

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 That Are Yellow.
• 🟢Green Group: Billiards Terms.
• 🔵Blue Group: Slang For A Sailor.
• 🟣Purple Group: Kinds Of Wood Plus ‘S’.

Answers to NYT Connections (#1,085) Today (May 31, 2026)

Close to waving the white flag? Fine, we’ll give you the answers.

• 🟡Yellow Group: Butter, Pikachu, Rubber Duck, School Bus. (Things That Are Yellow)

All of the things in this category are yellow, but ‘Butter’ is a bit of a wild card since it doesn’t adhere to the yellow-and-black colour code of the remaining three things.

• 🟢Green Group: Break, Cue, Pocket, Rack. (Billiards Terms)

In our opinion, this was the simplest category to solve today. A ‘Break’ is the opening shot of the game; a ‘Cue’ is the stick you use to make the shot; a ‘Pocket’ is one of the openings on the table; and a ‘Rack’ is a triangular frame used to assemble the balls on the table.

• 🔵Blue Group: Jack, Salt, Sea Dog, Tar. (Slang For A Sailor)

This one was a bit of a niche category, perhaps the toughest one to crack today. If you arrived at the answer solely by the process of elimination, we don’t blame you.

• 🟣Purple Group: Sash, Soak, Spine, Steak. (Kinds Of Wood Plus ‘S’)

The four kinds of wood are: Ash, Oak, Pine, and Teak.

Answers to yesterday’s puzzle (#1,084, May 30, 2026)

• 🟡Yellow Group: Impossible, Never, No Way, Sorry. (In Your Dreams)
• 🟢Green Group: Clear, Lucid, Right, Sound. (Sensible)
• 🔵Blue Group: Brace, Caret, Pipe, Tilde. (Typographical Symbols)
• 🟣Purple Group: Fever, Gigi, Volare, Witchcraft. (Song Of The Year Nominees At The First Grammy Awards)

Answers to NYT Connections #1,083 (May 29, 2026)

• 🟡Yellow Group: Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, Southern. (Ocean)
• 🟢Green Group: Ammonia, BO, Durian, Wet Dog. (Sources Of Distinctive Smells)
• 🔵Blue Group: Billiard, Drawing, Powder, Reading. (Kinds Of Rooms In A Mansion)
• 🟣Purple Group: Father, Pennsylvania, Protactinium, Public Address. (What ‘PA’ Might Refer To)

Answers to NYT Connections #1,082 (May 28, 2026)

• 🟡Yellow Group: Duck, Hunch, Squat, Stoop. (Get Low)
• 🟢Green Group: Media, News, Papers, Press. (Fourth Estate)
• 🔵Blue Group: Bar, Bench, Podium, Stand. (Parts Of A Courtroom)
• 🟣Purple Group: Jump, Lift, Lodge, Slope. (Ski ___)

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How did other solvers do today?

NYT’s early testers rated today’s Connection puzzle 2 out of 5. This puts it in the medium difficulty level. Let us know how you fared in the comments!