ForbesNYT 'Connections' Today: Hints And Answers For Wednesday, May 21 By Kris Holt

It's Thursday, and that means it's time for another round of Connections!

While dining at a Southern BBQ restaurant with my partner recently, my thoughts drifted to the most memorable bite of food I've ever tasted. It happened during one of my early trips with my former partner to San Sebastián in the Basque region.

We spent an evening hopping through several pintxo bars (pintxos are small snacks akin to tapas). At A Fuego Negro, I sampled a piece of pork, possibly accompanied by lemon mousse, which dissolved in my mouth almost instantly. It was a moment I'll never forget.

Ever since, I've longed to return to San Sebastián, but sadly, that particular bar has closed. That exquisite taste will remain just a cherished memory. It's a reminder to savor the good moments while they're here.

Before diving into today's puzzle, I want to mention our wonderful community on Discord where we discuss NYT Connections, other NYT games, and a variety of topics. It's filled with friendly folks and a great place to hang out. Feel free to join us!

Discord also serves as the best channel for providing feedback on this column, especially when I make the occasional (or more frequent) error. I don't often check comments or X. You can also find my weekend editions of this column in my new newsletter, Pastimes.

Here are the hints and answers for today's NYT Connections puzzle for Thursday, May 22.

How to Play Connections

Connections is a free, daily word game from The New York Times. A new puzzle is available every day at midnight. You can play it on the NYT website or via their Games app.

The game presents you with a grid of 16 words. Your goal is to organize these into four sets of four, identifying the connections among them. The sets might relate to things like clickable items, terms for participants in studies, or words prefixed by a part of the body.

There's a single correct solution for each puzzle, and you must be cautious with words that could fit into multiple categories. You can shuffle the words to possibly spot connections more easily.

Each set is color-coded. The yellow set is typically the simplest to figure out, followed by blue and green, while the purple set often proves the toughest, frequently involving wordplay.

To submit, select four words you believe belong together. An incorrect guess will cost you a life. If you're close to the correct set, you might receive a hint that you're one word off, but you'll need to determine which word to switch.

Four incorrect guesses end the game. Let's ensure that doesn't happen with some hints, and if you're really stuck, today's Connections answers. Like Wordle and similar games, sharing your results on social media and in group chats is straightforward.

With an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can explore the Connections archive, which includes all past puzzles, allowing you to catch up on any you've missed.

For hints on the first 60 or so games, you can use Google. Just click here and append the date of the puzzle you need help with to your search.

What Are Today's Connections Hints?

Scroll carefully! After the hints for each of today's Connections groups, I'll reveal the themes without immediately disclosing the words.

Today's 16 words are...

• TRASH
• PATCH
• LAPTOP
• BAR
• REFUSE
• MUSIC
• COMPACT
• DESKTOP
• CLAM
• BLOCK
• TABLET
• PICTURES
• CREAM
• WAFFLE IRON
• DENY
• SPRAY

And the hints for today's Connections groups are:

• Yellow group — prevent entry
• Green group — similar to folders on a computer
• Blue group — types of medication
• Purple group — items that open in a similar way to a clam

What Are Today's Connections Groups?

Need a bit more help?

Be cautious: we're entering spoiler territory.

Today's Connections groups are...

• Yellow group — block entry
• Green group — computer folders
• Blue group — forms of medicine
• Purple group — things that open like a shell

What Are Today's Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don't scroll further unless you're ready to see today's Connections answers.

This is your last chance to turn back!

Today's Connections answers are...

• Yellow group — block entry (BAR, BLOCK, DENY, REFUSE)
• Green group — computer folders (DESKTOP, MUSIC, PICTURES, TRASH)
• Blue group — forms of medicine (CREAM, PATCH, SPRAY, TABLET)
• Purple group — things that open like a shell (CLAM, COMPACT, LAPTOP, WAFFLE IRON)

No perfect game today, but that's my 85th consecutive win! Here's my performance:

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TRASH and REFUSE initially seemed like they could go together, but they didn't this time. I quickly realized REFUSE belonged with the other yellows.

A quick, related story: My mostly underage friends and I once tried to enter a club. The only one of us old enough to enter was ID'd and, unfortunately, didn't have his ID. He was denied entry, but the rest of us got in. Not the most ethical move, but we had a good time.

A red herring tripped me up after that. I thought DESKTOP, TABLET, LAPTOP, and COMPACT might form a group, but they didn't.

I soon figured out that COMPACT paired with LAPTOP, along with CLAM and WAFFLE IRON, to complete the purples.

TABLET stood out to me. Since it wasn't likely a type of computer, I guessed it related to medication, not the Scottish sweet. That led me to the blues.

That left the greens, which I thought were general computer folders, not specifically Mac ones. Close enough!

That wraps up today's Connections hints and answers. Check my blog tomorrow for clues and the solution to Friday's game if you need them.

P.S. I've mentioned punk music recently, so it's fitting to recommend this: Eleven days ago, Turnstile – possibly the world's most popular hardcore punk band – played a free hometown show in a Baltimore park, drawing over 10,000 attendees.

A full video of the concert, filmed in a style reminiscent of old-school video or digital film, appeared in my YouTube recommendations. Watching the entire performance was captivating.

As one recap stated, "it was organized chaos in the best way possible," which is the kind of energy I love. The sense of community was palpable, with stage dives starting within a minute and continuing throughout.

This band is soon headlining a major festival in Ottawa, just a couple of hours from where I am. It's exciting to see them give back with a free show for their local fans, many of whom have supported them from the start.

Best of all, this was a benefit concert. Turnstile used it to raise funds for Health Care for the Homeless, a charity aiding people experiencing homelessness:

Please follow my blog for more on NYT Connections and other word games, plus video game news, insights, and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Sharing this column with other Connections players would be appreciated. You can also read my weekend editions in my new newsletter, Pastimes.

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