NYT Connections #1068
NYT Connections Deep Dive: May 14, 2026 (AIR CAIRO)
This archive page preserves the NYT Connections thinking guide for May 14, 2026. Use it to review the solving approach while the final answers stay protected below.
Current daily puzzle
Updated for
Guidance bridge
This archive guide reviews the completed Connections board for May 14, 2026. Use it to revisit each category, the group logic, and the final answer set after the puzzle is solved.
Archive Snapshot
- Date
- May 14, 2026
- Groups
- 4 color groups
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Hardest word
- AIR CAIRO
- Answers
- Answers included below
Why "AIR CAIRO" is the hardest word in today's NYT Connections puzzle
AIR CAIRO is the hardest entry because it looks like a travel phrase and does not advertise the hidden-word mechanism. The intended trick is structural: CAIRO contains AIR, so the second word includes the first word inside it.
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 14, 2026
How to Start Today's Connections
Start with the phone modes or premonition words, because both groups have clear everyday logic. Keep GHOST, THE OTHERS, RING, and SIXTH SENSE separated until you know whether the movie-looking set is a decoy.
Connections Archive: Category Clue
Start with a general clue before viewing color-level prompts.
One group is about sensing something in advance, one is about phone behavior, one is online dating vocabulary, and one depends on words hidden inside longer phrases.
Connections Archive: Yellow Group
What kind of relationship should you test first?
These describe an inner sense that something may happen.
Connections Archive: Green Group
What other shared dimension could these words have?
These are ways a phone can handle alerts or incoming calls.
Connections Archive: Blue Group
Does this set depend on a hidden layer of meaning?
These are unhealthy or deceptive behaviors in modern dating.
Connections Archive: Purple Group
Check whether the pattern lives in the word form itself.
In each phrase, the second word contains the first word as consecutive letters.
Connections Archive: Grouping Prompts
Use these questions before submitting a set.
- Which four entries are different names for intuition or advance warning?
- Which entries describe notification or call behavior on a phone?
- Which words are verbs or labels from dating-app culture?
- For the last group, inspect whether one word is hidden inside the other word in each phrase.
Connections Archive: Self-Check
Use these checks to avoid overconfident guesses.
- Does SIXTH SENSE belong with GUT FEELING, HUNCH, and INTUITION?
- Do DO NOT DISTURB, RING, SILENT, and VIBRATE all describe phone modes?
- Can BREADCRUMB, CATFISH, GHOST, and LOVE BOMB all describe dating behavior?
- Do CAIRO, HALLOWS, WARMER, and OTHERS contain AIR, ALL, ARM, and THE respectively?
What Matters in This Puzzle
The movie group is a trap
GHOST, RING, THE OTHERS, and SIXTH SENSE look like a supernatural-film set, but each has a stronger home elsewhere.
Purple is internal spelling
The category is not about meanings of the full phrases; it is about the first word appearing inside the second.
Dating terms are modern verbs
BREADCRUMB, CATFISH, GHOST, and LOVE BOMB all describe behavior toward another person in dating contexts.
Post-game archive analysis
May 14, 2026 NYT Connections Category Breakdown
This archive page reviews the completed board category by category. Each group below explains the shared logic and why every word belongs, which gives the page a different purpose from the live hint page.
yellow group
Premonition
The category works because all four entries share the same relationship: premonition. The solve depends on applying that exact logic to every word, not just finding a loose association.
GUT FEELING
GUT FEELING belongs here because it supports the group label "Premonition". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
HUNCH
HUNCH belongs here because it supports the group label "Premonition". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
INTUITION
INTUITION belongs here because it supports the group label "Premonition". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
SIXTH SENSE
SIXTH SENSE belongs here because it supports the group label "Premonition". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
green group
Cellphone modes
The category works because all four entries share the same relationship: cellphone modes. The solve depends on applying that exact logic to every word, not just finding a loose association.
DO NOT DISTURB
DO NOT DISTURB belongs here because it supports the group label "Cellphone modes". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
RING
RING belongs here because it supports the group label "Cellphone modes". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
SILENT
SILENT belongs here because it supports the group label "Cellphone modes". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
VIBRATE
VIBRATE belongs here because it supports the group label "Cellphone modes". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
blue group
Bad things to do in modern dating
The category works because all four entries share the same relationship: bad things to do in modern dating. The solve depends on applying that exact logic to every word, not just finding a loose association.
BREADCRUMB
BREADCRUMB belongs here because it supports the group label "Bad things to do in modern dating". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
CATFISH
CATFISH belongs here because it supports the group label "Bad things to do in modern dating". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
GHOST
GHOST belongs here because it supports the group label "Bad things to do in modern dating". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
LOVE BOMB
LOVE BOMB belongs here because it supports the group label "Bad things to do in modern dating". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
purple group
Phrases whose second words include their first word
The category works because all four entries share the same relationship: phrases whose second words include their first word. The solve depends on applying that exact logic to every word, not just finding a loose association.
AIR CAIRO
AIR CAIRO belongs here because it supports the group label "Phrases whose second words include their first word". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
ALL HALLOWS
ALL HALLOWS belongs here because it supports the group label "Phrases whose second words include their first word". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
ARM WARMER
ARM WARMER belongs here because it supports the group label "Phrases whose second words include their first word". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
THE OTHERS
THE OTHERS belongs here because it supports the group label "Phrases whose second words include their first word". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
How This Connections Archive Puzzle Works
The May 14 Connections board uses several strong misdirects. GUT FEELING, HUNCH, INTUITION, and SIXTH SENSE form PREMONITION. DO NOT DISTURB, RING, SILENT, and VIBRATE are CELLPHONE MODES. BREADCRUMB, CATFISH, GHOST, and LOVE BOMB are BAD THINGS TO DO IN MODERN DATING. The purple group is the wordplay set: AIR CAIRO hides AIR in CAIRO, ALL HALLOWS hides ALL in HALLOWS, ARM WARMER hides ARM in WARMER, and THE OTHERS hides THE in OTHERS.
Caution Notes
Do not force the horror-film set
That tempting set breaks the actual premonition, phone, dating, and hidden-word groups.
Keep AIR CAIRO as written
The phrase works because CAIRO contains AIR; changing it to another travel phrase would break the wordplay.
Previous and Next Day
Compare today's grouping logic with neighboring guides before you move on.