It’s already Thursday and if you’re looking for ways to distract yourself a little before the weekend arrives, here’s the Response from Connections for today May 16.
If you’ve never played it before, Connections challenges you to sort a group of 16 words into four groups where all the words are well… connected. This connection could come from the fact that they share a similar meaning, being part of a place name, objects found in a kitchen or anything else!
While it may seem easy, the connection groups each have a different difficulty level – yellow being the easiest and purple being the hardest. For this reason, working today’s login answer could be rather tricky. You may get one group right away, but another might be a mystery to you. Fortunately, we are here to help!
Originally developed during the New York Times games department’s annual game jam, the beta version of Connections was released in June 2023. Since then, it has become one of the most popular games the NYTimes has to offer, beaten only by Worlde. Although some connections have been made with the BBC’s Only Connect programme…
Tip for Today’s Connections Answer
Instead of jumping straight to the answer, let’s start with some clues for today’s Connections puzzle:
- YELLOW – Ways to photograph.
- Green – The feeling of certainty.
- Blue – Linked to movement.
- Purple – Words that go well with Couverture.
- Snap belongs to the Yellow, Ice in Green and Sail in Blue group.
Remember: yellow is the easiest group to find, followed by green and blue, with purple being the hardest set of words to connect.
Connecting words for May 16
Here are the words included in today’s Connections puzzle – see if the clues above help you make a connection before checking out today’s answer:
| Ice | Side | Always | Wet |
| Security | Lockdown | Broken | Shot |
| Secure | Picnic | Throw | Navigate |
| Instant | Slide | Strap | Photo |
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Connections response for May 16
Without further ado, here is Connections’ answer for today:
- Photo – Photo, shooting, snapshot, still image
- Ensure, like a victory – Cinch, Ice, Lock, Secure
- Move effortlessly – Breeze, Coast, Sliding, Sailing
- ___ Blanket – Picnic, Safety, Throwing, Wet
Sorting the words into groups wasn’t easy this time, especially because I could see more than one possibility when it came to themes. My first guess was that Breeze, Coast, Sail and Wet, just to try all the ocean – and water – related words would form a group. Ironically, when swapping Wet for Glide, I found the Blue group, even though it’s not at all related to water or anything like that! Next, the Yellow group was easy to spot. I found the Green group after putting together Lock, Secure and Cinch. Once three groups were completed, the last one was to select the remaining words.
What to play after Connections?
The obvious answer to this question is Wordle, but if you’ve already solved that problem today, the New York Times has other games. When it comes to word games, the NYTimes has the Mini Crossword, Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed, and Strands games, which are still in beta. If you want to get away from words, you can also try Tiles – a pattern matching game – or Sudoku.
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Apart from the NYTimes, there is Semantle – where you have to reach the secret word by guessing its meaning. Spelling doesn’t matter in Semantle, rather you need to pay attention to the numerical value of your guesses to plot your way to the answer. If you prefer to keep the Connections format, it’s worth visiting Puzzgrid. You’ll find hundreds of Connections-style puzzles here, but the problem is that you only have three minutes to solve them.
(You can also just watch Only Connect on BBC iPlayer…)
If you’re in the mood to read, we explained why the NYTimes Mini Crosswords are a reliable joy and interviewed Jonathan Knight, head of games for the NYTimes.
Good luck solving today’s connections!
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