Issue #1157 Wed 20 May
Connections hints — May 20, 2026
A measured Wednesday — three groups reward steady reading, and one leans on a single shared word at the 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.
HIGH
- adj. elevated in position or amount
- adj. (of a setting) at maximum heat or power
- adj. (informal) under the influence of drugs
- n. a peak or elevated point
MEDIUM
- adj. of a middle size or degree
- n. a means by which something is communicated
- n. a person claiming to channel spirits
- adj. (of meat) cooked partway through
OFF
- adj. not operating or activated
- adv. away from a place
- adj. (of food) spoiled or rancid
- adj. cancelled or no longer happening
SIMMER
- v. cook gently just below boiling
- v. barely restrain a strong emotion
- n. a state of low, steady heat
CONCENTRATION
- n. focused mental attention on a task
- n. the proportion of a substance in a mixture
- n. a dense gathering in one place
FORCE
- n. physical power exerted on a body
- n. an organized military or police unit
- v. compel by pressure or threat
- n. (physics) an interaction that alters motion
INTENSITY
- n. degree of magnitude of a quality
- n. emotional fervor or seriousness
MIGHT
- modal. used to express possibility
- n. great power or capability
- modal. used to soften a polite request
INTERVAL
- n. a span of time between two events
- n. (music) the pitch distance between two notes
- n. (Brit.) a break during a performance
- n. a gap between two points in space
KEY
- n. a small metal tool that opens a lock
- adj. crucial or essential
- n. (music) the tonal center that anchors a piece
- n. a low-lying coral island, as off Florida
MODE
- n. a manner or method of doing something
- n. (music) a particular arrangement of whole and half steps
- n. (stats) the most frequently occurring value
- n. a prevailing style or fashion
SCALE
- n. a device used for weighing
- n. one of the plates covering a fish or reptile
- n. (music) an ordered series of pitches
- v. climb something steep
GROUNDHOG
- n. a burrowing rodent native to North America
INDEPENDENCE
- n. freedom from outside control
- n. a city in western Missouri
THE LONGEST
- phrase. the superlative form of 'long'
TRAINING
- n. the process of teaching or learning a skill
- n. physical exercise undertaken to improve fitness
yellow group 7 nudges
Yellow group
The quiet click as you turn a dial counter-clockwise before bed, just to be sure nothing's still glowing.
Kitchen vocabulary — labels you read, not ingredients you cook with.
Category membership — all four belong to the same printed set of options.
Each is a short word you'd read off a printed scale: intensities plus one resting state and one gentle mode.
STOVE KNOB SETTINGS
One is SIMMER.
HIGH · MEDIUM · OFF · SIMMER
green group 7 nudges
Green group
The kick of an espresso shot. A hurricane making landfall. A speech that lands like a punch.
All four are abstract nouns — the kind of quality a thing or person can have in great quantity.
Straightforward synonyms today — the four words all mean roughly the same thing.
Each fits the frame 'sheer ___' or 'great ___'. Register varies across the four, but the slot is identical.
POTENCY
One is INTENSITY.
CONCENTRATION · FORCE · INTENSITY · MIGHT
blue group 7 nudges
Blue group
An afternoon at the piano where the teacher keeps pointing at diagrams on a page instead of letting your fingers move.
All four belong to music.
Category membership — the four are terms drawn from the same field of study.
Each is a single short English noun that has an everyday meaning AND a specialized one inside that field.
MUSIC THEORY CONCEPTS
One is SCALE.
INTERVAL · KEY · MODE · SCALE
violet group 7 nudges
Violet group
Saturday-night couch energy — popcorn out, blanket on, four picks everyone has heard quoted.
All four belong squarely to the world of cinema.
Compound completion — each member needs the same extra word added to be whole.
That shared word lands at the end of each member, in the very same slot every time.
"___ DAY" MOVIES
One is GROUNDHOG — add the missing word and you have the Bill Murray time-loop comedy.
GROUNDHOG · INDEPENDENCE · THE LONGEST · TRAINING