Issue #1074 Wed 20 May
NYT Connections Hints & Answer — 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 hints
Yellow group hints
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 hints
Green group hints
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 hints
Blue group hints
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 hints
Violet group hints
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
Spoiler zone
Complete Connections answer
Open only the solution you want to see. Each answer stays hidden until you choose to reveal it.
-
Reveal the yellow group
STOVE KNOB SETTINGSHIGH · MEDIUM · OFF · SIMMER
-
Reveal the green group
POTENCYCONCENTRATION · FORCE · INTENSITY · MIGHT
-
Reveal the blue group
MUSIC THEORY CONCEPTSINTERVAL · KEY · MODE · SCALE
-
Reveal the violet group
"___ DAY" MOVIESGROUNDHOG · INDEPENDENCE · THE LONGEST · TRAINING
Verified solution for .
Frequently asked questions
Spoiler-free help for Connections on May 20, 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 20, 2026, or browse every Connections puzzle in the archive.
How hard is NYT Connections on May 20, 2026?
NYT Connections on May 20, 2026 rates 2 out of 4 on our difficulty scale — a moderate challenge. 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 20, 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 #1074?
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
- Steady
- At a glance
- 4 groups · 16 words
Today on Cluestand
Today
- Difficulty
- Steady
- At a glance
- 4 groups · 16 words