Issue #1069 Fri 15 May
NYT Connections Hints & Answer — 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 hints
Yellow group hints
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 hints
Green group hints
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 hints
Blue group hints
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 hints
Violet group hints
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)
Spoiler zone
Complete Connections answer
Open only the solution you want to see. Each answer stays hidden until you choose to reveal it.
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Reveal the yellow group
NAVIGATE THROUGH, AS A RIVERCROSS · FORD · TRAVERSE · WADE
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Reveal the green group
MULTI-TIME NBA MVPSBIRD · CURRY · JAMES · JORDAN
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Reveal the blue group
NON-PALINDROMIC WORDS IN A FAMOUS PALINDROMEABLE · ELBA · SAW · WAS
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Reveal the violet group
HOMOPHONES OF KINDS OF DOGS, FAMILIARLYCIAO · PALM · PEEK · PITT
Verified solution for .
Frequently asked questions
Spoiler-free help for Connections on May 15, 2026. Every answer below helps you along without giving the game away — ready to see the full solution? See the complete Connections answer for May 15, 2026, or browse every Connections puzzle in the archive.
How hard is NYT Connections on May 15, 2026?
NYT Connections on May 15, 2026 rates 4 out of 4 on our difficulty scale — a real brain-bender. As always you sort sixteen words into four colour-coded groups, and our hints tease what links each group without ever naming the words.
What's a spoiler-free hint for NYT Connections on May 15, 2026?
The hint ladder above starts with a one-line vibe for each of the four groups, then adds the connecting idea, then the wording of each category. You climb only as far as you need, and no grouped words are shown until the final reveal.
How many groups are in NYT Connections #1069?
Four groups of four, ordered from the gentlest to the trickiest. For the categories and the sixteen words themselves, open the answer section on this page — the hints here keep them hidden.
Today
- Difficulty
- Wicked
- At a glance
- 4 groups · 16 words
Today on Cluestand
Today
- Difficulty
- Wicked
- At a glance
- 4 groups · 16 words