NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, May 21 (game #1075)

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1075) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• LOVE
• CHESS
• HONEY
• MOON
• PEACH
• HOT
• YELLOW
• PUMPKIN
• ADVANTAGE
• CAN
• PECAN
• COLONEL
• DEUCE
• SHOOFLY
• CABOOSE
• FORTY

NYT Connections today (game #1075) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Pastry delights
• GREEN: Bum words
• BLUE: Wimbledon scoreboard
• PURPLE: A tangy  condiment

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1075) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: KINDS OF PIES
• GREEN: THINGS ASSOCIATED WITH BUTTS
• BLUE: TENNIS SCORING TERMS
• PURPLE: ___ MUSTARD

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1075) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1075, are…

• 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

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

A reverse rainbow for me today, as I got the supposedly hardest group first and failed to spot the easiest.

The reason for this is, like many players outside the US, my pie knowledge is limited — PUMPKIN and PECAN I am familiar with, but CHESS and SHOOFLY are niche. Meanwhile, although posterior terminology is universal the selection of THINGS ASSOCIATED WITH BUTTS is also pretty US-centric.

Tennis, on the other hand, is no problem and it turns out so is ___ MUSTARD — although I got this purple group by accident after seeing HOT and HONEY beside each other and then thinking COLONEL must mean Mustard as in Clue/Cluedo.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, May 20, game #1074)

• YELLOW: STOVE KNOB SETTINGS HIGH, MEDIUM, OFF, SIMMER
• GREEN: POTENCY CONCENTRATION, FORCE, INTENSITY, MIGHT
• BLUE: MUSIC THEORY CONCEPTS INTERVAL, KEY, MODE, SCALE
• PURPLE: “_____ DAY" MOVIES GROUNDHOG, INDEPENDENCE, THE LONGEST, TRAINING

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.