NYT Connections Answers (May 21): Confused By Puzzle #1074? Check Hints, & Solution

NYT Connections May 21 puzzle mixed pies, tennis terms, and funny wordplay. Check hints and full answers in simple words here.

Connections is a daily word puzzle from The New York Times.

Source : Screenshot/New York Times

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• New York Times Connections puzzle features tricky word groupings.
• Players sort sixteen words into four themed sets.
• Themes included dessert pies and tennis scoring terms.

NYT Connections Answer: The New York Times’ daily puzzle, Connections, returned on Thursday, May 21, with another tricky word challenge. Players once again had to sort 16 words into four hidden groups. Some themes were easy to spot right away, while others needed a little more thinking. 

That’s what makes Connections so fun. One wrong idea can completely throw you off. If today’s puzzle had you confused, here’s a simple breakdown of all the hints and the full solution.

What Is Connections And How Do You Play?

Connections is a daily word puzzle from The New York Times. The goal is to group 16 words into four sets of four that share a common theme.

Some groups are very simple, while others are designed to trick you. Many words can look like they belong together even when they don’t. That is where most mistakes happen.

For example, “Hook,” “Nana,” “Peter,” and “Wendy” are all characters from Peter Pan. Another example is “Action,” “Ballpark,” “Go,” and “Stick,” which all come before the word “Figure.”

Players only get four wrong guesses before the game ends, and the answers are shown.

Each group also has a colour that shows how difficult it is:

• Yellow (easiest)
• Green (easy)
• Blue (medium)
• Purple (hardest)

Some connections are based on meaning, while others depend on sounds or common phrases. That’s why every puzzle feels different.

Hints And Full Solution To NYT Connections (May 21)

Here are the official hints for today’s puzzle:

• Yellow hint: Dessert menu entries.
• Green hint: Nicknames for your most portable cushion.
• Blue hint: Game, set, match!
• Purple hint: One word comes after.

Extra hints:

• One set forms familiar compound words.
• Every group has at least one word containing the letter “C.”

One word from each group to help you:

• Yellow: Pumpkin
• Green: Caboose
• Blue: Forty
• Purple: Yellow

Now, here’s the full answer for today’s Connections puzzle.

Full Solution for May 21:

• Yellow (Kinds of Pies): Chess, Pecan, Pumpkin, Shoofly
• Green (Things Associated With Butts): Caboose, Can, Moon, Peach
• Blue (Tennis Scoring Terms): Advantage, Deuce, Forty, Love
• Purple (___ Mustard): Colonel, Honey, Hot, Yellow

Today’s puzzle was both funny and clever. The pie group was tasty but tricky because many players may not know about chess pie or shoofly pie. The green group also brought some laughs with words linked to butts, like caboose and peach.

The tennis terms were easier for sports fans, with words like deuce and love standing out quickly. The purple group worked through common phrases like honey mustard and yellow mustard.

Overall, today’s Connections puzzle mixed food, sports, and wordplay in a smart and entertaining way.

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