Issue #1143 Fri 15 May
Connections hints — May 15, 2026
A devious grid today. Read everything aloud at least once, distrust the words that look like household names, and save your confident guesses for the very end.
Word meanings & definitions
Stuck on a tricky Connections word? Click any tile below to see its dictionary entry — handy when a familiar word might be hiding a less-obvious meaning.
CROSS
- n. an upright post with a transverse bar
- v. to move from one side to the other
- adj. (informal) annoyed or irritable
- n. an animal bred from two different breeds
FORD
- v. to pass through shallow water on foot
- n. a shallow river spot passable on foot
- n. (proper) an American automobile maker
TRAVERSE
- v. to move across or over an area
- n. a sideways move in climbing or skiing
WADE
- v. to walk through water or mud
- v. to make slow progress with effort
BIRD
- n. a feathered, winged animal
- n. (slang) a rude one-finger gesture
- n. (British slang) a young woman
CURRY
- n. a dish in a spiced sauce
- v. to groom a horse with a comb
- v. to seek favor by flattery
JAMES
- n. a male given name
- n. (informal) a stereotypical butler's name
JORDAN
- n. a Middle Eastern country
- n. a river of the Near East
ABLE
- adj. having the power or skill to do something
- adj. competent or talented
ELBA
- n. (proper) a Mediterranean island off Italy
SAW
- n. a toothed tool for cutting
- v. past tense of "see"
- n. an old proverb or maxim
WAS
- v. first/third-person singular past of "be"
CIAO
- interj. an informal hello or goodbye
PALM
- n. the inner surface of the hand
- n. a tropical tree with fronds
- v. to hide something in the hand
PEEK
- v. to glance quickly or secretly
- n. a brief or furtive look
PITT
- n. (proper) an English surname
yellow group 7 nudges
Yellow group
Your boots are off, trousers rolled past the knee, and the cold is climbing up your shins as you pick each step.
All four are verbs for a kind of physical movement.
Synonyms — the four words all mean roughly the same thing.
Each functions here as a single transitive verb, yet every one also has an ordinary second life as a plain noun.
NAVIGATE THROUGH, AS A RIVER
One is WADE.
CROSS · FORD · TRAVERSE · WADE
green group 7 nudges
Green group
Sneakers screeching on polished wood, confetti drifting down, and a small handful of legends whose names never stop echoing.
Professional basketball — specifically the people who play it.
Category-membership — all four belong to one very exclusive club.
Each answer is a single player's surname, and what unites them is an individual honor, not a team championship.
MULTI-TIME NBA MVPS
One is the surname CURRY.
BIRD · CURRY · JAMES · JORDAN
blue group 7 nudges
Blue group
Stand between two facing mirrors and watch the reflections fold back into each other, endlessly even.
Wordplay — this is about letters and arrangement, not about what the words mean.
Category-membership — all four belong to one specific, well-known set rather than sharing a meaning.
That set is a single short, famous line; what gathers these four is their position inside it, not their definitions.
NON-PALINDROMIC WORDS IN A FAMOUS PALINDROME
One of the four is the common adjective ABLE.
ABLE · ELBA · SAW · WAS
violet group 7 nudges
Violet group
Read each one aloud and ignore the spelling — your ear lands somewhere warmer and furrier than the printed letters suggest.
A wordplay group: spelling is a decoy here, and sound carries the whole connection.
Homophones — each word sounds exactly like a different word entirely.
Each spoken twin is a clipped, informal nickname — the short affectionate form people actually say, not the full proper term.
HOMOPHONES OF KINDS OF DOGS, FAMILIARLY
CIAO sounds exactly like CHOW.
CIAO (CHOW) · PALM (POM) · PEEK (PEKE) · PITT (PIT)