NYT Connections #1072
Connections Hint Today: NYT Category Hints & Answer
If you are looking for the Connections hint today, start here with spoiler-light category clues before revealing the full answer list.
Current daily puzzle
Updated for
Guidance bridge
Looking for the Connections hint today? This guide focuses on category logic and grouping prompts for May 18, 2026 so you can test your own solve before opening the protected answers.
Connections Hint Today Snapshot
- Date
- May 18, 2026
- Groups
- 4 color groups
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Hardest word
- PERE
- Answers
- Reveal after hints
Why "PERE" is the hardest word in today's NYT Connections puzzle
PERE is the hardest word because it is less familiar than PAIR, PARE, or PEAR and depends on pronunciation. The group is a homophone set, so the accent and spelling matter less than the shared sound.
As a puzzle enthusiast, I treat the hardest word as the key to the board because it usually reveals the grouping pattern hiding underneath.
Date banner
May 18, 2026
How to Start Today's Connections
Start with PAIR, PARE, PEAR, and PERE because they share the same sound. Then solve the rupture verbs and use the remaining team-name nouns and anagrams to finish.
Connections Hint Today: Category Clue
Start with a general clue before viewing color-level prompts.
Connections Hint: Yellow Category
What kind of relationship should you test first?
Connections Hint: Green Category
What other shared dimension could these words have?
Connections Hint: Blue Category
Does this set depend on a hidden layer of meaning?
Connections Hint: Purple Category
Check whether the pattern lives in the word form itself.
Grouping Prompts
Use these questions before submitting a set.
Self-Check Before You Submit
Use these checks to avoid overconfident guesses.
What Matters in This Puzzle
Sound comes first
The homophone group is clear once PERE is treated by pronunciation.
Team words are singular
PADRE, RED, ROYAL, and TWIN work as individual team-member nouns.
Purple is anagram logic
Each purple entry rearranges into a fruit rather than naming one directly.
How the Connections Hint Today Works
The May 18 Connections board has two direct groups and two trickier mechanisms. PAIR, PARE, PEAR, and PERE are homophones, with PERE likely the least familiar spelling. BLOW, CRACK, POP, and SPLIT all describe rupture or breaking. PADRE, RED, ROYAL, and TWIN can each name a member of an MLB team. The purple group is letter-play: CHEAP becomes PEACH, EARP becomes PEAR, LUMP becomes PLUM, and WIKI becomes KIWI.
Caution Notes
Do not group PEAR with fruits directly
PEAR belongs to the homophone set, while the fruit group is hidden by anagrams.
Read RED as a team noun
Here RED means a Cincinnati Reds player, not the color.
Need the answer after the hints?
Use the grouping guide first. The protected answer reveal is below when you want to check all four categories.
NYT Connections Answer Today (Spoilers!)
This section keeps the full answers hidden until you choose to open it.
Previous and Next Day
Compare today's grouping logic with neighboring guides before you move on.