The New York Times continues to attract puzzle enthusiasts with Connections, its popular daily word game that challenges players to find hidden relationships between seemingly unrelated words. The May 29 puzzle (#1083) offers a mix of geography, strong-smelling items, rooms found in large homes and a tricky Purple category involving words that can precede "table." As always, today's challenge ranges from straightforward associations to more creative wordplay. This guide includes spoiler-free hints, the complete answers and a quick explanation of how the game works.
What is NYT's Connections game?
Connections is a daily word puzzle from The New York Times that asks players to organise 16 words into four groups based on a shared connection. Each group is assigned a colour-coded difficulty level: Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple, with Yellow generally being the easiest and Purple often requiring the most creative thinking.
Players must identify four groups of four related words while avoiding too many incorrect guesses.
NYT Connections hints for today
- Yellow: Major bodies of salt water
- Green: Things known for having strong or distinctive smells
- Blue: Types of rooms often found in large houses or mansions
- Purple: Words that can come before "table"
NYT Connections answers for May 29, 2026
- Yellow – OCEANS: Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific
- Green – THINGS WITH DISTINCTIVE ODOURS: Ammonia, BO, Durian, Wet Dog
- Blue – ROOMS IN A LARGE HOUSE: Billiard, Drawing, Powder, Reading
- Purple – ___ TABLE: Father, Pennsylvania, Protactinium, Public Address
How to play NYT Connections
The puzzle presents 16 words arranged in a grid, and your goal is to organise them into four groups of four words that share a hidden connection.
A new Connections puzzle is released daily through The New York Times Games website and mobile app.
Players should carefully examine all 16 words and look for the most obvious links first. Once you identify a possible category, select the four related words and submit them as a group. Correct answers are automatically locked into place. Since players only have a limited number of incorrect guesses before the game ends, strategic thinking and elimination are often essential for solving the more difficult categories.
Other NYT games to explore
If you enjoy Connections, The New York Times also offers several other popular daily puzzle games.
Wordle: Guess a five-letter word in six attempts
Spelling Bee: Create as many words as possible using a specific set of letters
The Mini Crossword: A short daily crossword challenge
Strands: A word-search-inspired puzzle built around hidden themes
Whether today's puzzle was easy or challenging, a new Connections puzzle will be available tomorrow with another set of hidden word relationships to uncover.