Issue #1070 Sat 16 May
NYT Connections Hints & Answer — May 16, 2026
A grid that rewards reading aloud. Three groups land on familiar ground; the fourth hides its trick in plain sight at the tail end of each word.
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.
COUPE
- n. a shallow broad-bowled stemmed glass
- n. a two-door enclosed car
FLUTE
- n. a side-blown woodwind instrument
- n. a tall narrow stemmed glass
- v. to carve vertical grooves into
STEIN
- n. a lidded earthenware beer mug
- n. a surname (e.g., Gertrude Stein)
TUMBLER
- n. a flat-bottomed drinking glass
- n. an acrobat who performs flips
- n. a pin inside a lock mechanism
FIDDLE
- n. (informal) a violin
- v. to fidget with or tamper
- n. (British informal) a dishonest scheme
MESS
- n. an untidy or dirty state
- n. a communal dining area for soldiers
- v. to make disordered
PLAY
- v. to engage in recreation
- n. a staged dramatic work
- v. to produce music on an instrument
- n. slack movement in a mechanism
TINKER
- n. a travelling mender of pots and pans
- v. to adjust or repair in a casual way
ALLEGRO
- n. (music) a brisk, lively tempo
- n. a passage performed at that pace
FORTE
- n. a person's particular strength or specialty
- adv. (music) played with force and volume
LARGO
- n. (music) a slow, dignified tempo
- n. a piece played at that pace
PIANO
- n. a large keyboard instrument with hammered strings
- adv. (music) played quietly and softly
BASSOON
- n. a low-pitched double-reed woodwind instrument
BELFAST
- n. the capital city of Northern Ireland
- n. a deep rectangular ceramic kitchen sink
NESQUICK
- n. (trademark) a brand of flavored milk powder
THERMOSTAT
- n. a device that automatically regulates temperature
yellow group 7 hints
Yellow group hints
A cabinet door swings open and a soft chorus of clinking answers before anyone has poured a thing.
Everyday household objects used for serving and drinking.
Category membership — all four belong to one specific class of object.
Each word names a distinct style within a single collection, told apart by silhouette rather than by what's put in them.
GLASSWARE
One is STEIN.
COUPE · FLUTE · STEIN · TUMBLER
green group 7 hints
Green group hints
A rainy Saturday, a half-broken transistor radio open on the kitchen table, a screwdriver in hand, and absolutely no plan.
All four are verbs about doing something hands-on, idle, and unfocused — an action group, not a topic.
Synonyms — the four words all mean roughly the same thing as each other.
Each is an intransitive verb that takes an optional trailing preposition to point it at whatever you're poking at.
MESS AROUND (WITH)
One is TINKER.
FIDDLE · MESS · PLAY · TINKER
blue group 7 hints
Blue group hints
A page covered in small Italian words, each one quietly telling whoever holds it how to behave before a single thing is played.
Italian terms drawn from music notation.
Category-membership — all four belong to one shared set of established terms.
Each item is a single Italian loanword that works as an instruction to the player, not as a thing being played.
MUSIC PERFORMANCE DIRECTIONS
One is FORTE.
ALLEGRO · FORTE · LARGO · PIANO
violet group 7 hints
Violet group hints
A nurse barking an order across the ER, a sprinter already gone at the gun — everything here is in a tearing hurry.
A wordplay group — the dictionary meanings are a decoy; what matters is how the letters sit.
Hidden words — each tile has a smaller, unrelated word buried inside it.
That buried word isn't somewhere in the middle — it's parked at the very tail, the final letters of each tile.
ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "ASAP"
THERMOSTAT ends in STAT.
BASSOON (SOON) · BELFAST (FAST) · NESQUICK (QUICK) · THERMOSTAT (STAT)
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
GLASSWARECOUPE · FLUTE · STEIN · TUMBLER
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Reveal the green group
MESS AROUND (WITH)FIDDLE · MESS · PLAY · TINKER
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Reveal the blue group
MUSIC PERFORMANCE DIRECTIONSALLEGRO · FORTE · LARGO · PIANO
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Reveal the violet group
ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "ASAP"BASSOON · BELFAST · NESQUICK · THERMOSTAT
Verified solution for .
Frequently asked questions
Spoiler-free help for Connections on May 16, 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 16, 2026, or browse every Connections puzzle in the archive.
How hard is NYT Connections on May 16, 2026?
NYT Connections on May 16, 2026 rates 3 out of 4 on our difficulty scale — a tougher-than-average puzzle. 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 16, 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 #1070?
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
- Stiff
- At a glance
- 4 groups · 16 words
Today on Cluestand
Today
- Difficulty
- Stiff
- At a glance
- 4 groups · 16 words