NYT Connections #1071
NYT Connections Deep Dive: May 17, 2026 (DINGLE)
This archive page preserves the NYT Connections thinking guide for May 17, 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 17, 2026. Use it to revisit each category, the group logic, and the final answer set after the puzzle is solved.
Archive Snapshot
- Date
- May 17, 2026
- Groups
- 4 color groups
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Hardest word
- DINGLE
- Answers
- Answers included below
Why "DINGLE" is the hardest word in today's NYT Connections puzzle
DINGLE is the hardest entry because it looks like a standalone odd word until the blank-before-berry pattern appears. It becomes DINGLEBERRY, so the solver has to think of words that can precede berry rather than ordinary category meanings.
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 17, 2026
How to Start Today's Connections
Start with the sticky texture group because CLAMMY, GLUEY, GOOEY, and TACKY are direct descriptors. Then look for shock verbs before testing the bill and berry patterns.
Connections Archive: Category Clue
Start with a general clue before viewing color-level prompts.
One group describes sticky texture, one means to astonish, one names things with bills, and one becomes a word when followed by berry.
Connections Archive: Yellow Group
What kind of relationship should you test first?
These describe something sticky or tacky to the touch.
Connections Archive: Green Group
What other shared dimension could these words have?
These are verbs for stunning or astonishing someone.
Connections Archive: Blue Group
Does this set depend on a hidden layer of meaning?
Each of these can have a bill in a different sense.
Connections Archive: Purple Group
Check whether the pattern lives in the word form itself.
Put the same fruit-ending after each word.
Connections Archive: Grouping Prompts
Use these questions before submitting a set.
- Which four words describe a sticky surface?
- Which verbs mean to leave someone stunned?
- Where can bill mean beak, invoice, or brim?
- Which remaining words can take berry after them?
Connections Archive: Self-Check
Use these checks to avoid overconfident guesses.
- Do CLAMMY, GLUEY, GOOEY, and TACKY all describe stickiness?
- Can FLOOR, ROCK, SHOCK, and SURPRISE all mean flabbergast?
- Do BIRD, CAP, DUCK, and INVOICE each connect to bill?
- Do BLUE, DINGLE, GOOSE, and RASP all form berry words?
What Matters in This Puzzle
Texture is the cleanest start
The sticky adjectives are direct and reduce several tempting overlaps.
Bill has multiple senses
The blue group works because bill shifts meaning from animal part to document to hat brim.
Purple needs the suffix
DINGLE and RASP only make sense once berry is added.
Post-game archive analysis
May 17, 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
Sticky
The category works because all four entries share the same relationship: sticky. The solve depends on applying that exact logic to every word, not just finding a loose association.
CLAMMY
CLAMMY belongs here because it supports the group label "Sticky". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
GLUEY
GLUEY belongs here because it supports the group label "Sticky". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
GOOEY
GOOEY belongs here because it supports the group label "Sticky". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
TACKY
TACKY belongs here because it supports the group label "Sticky". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
green group
Flabbergast
The category works because all four entries share the same relationship: flabbergast. The solve depends on applying that exact logic to every word, not just finding a loose association.
FLOOR
FLOOR belongs here because it supports the group label "Flabbergast". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
ROCK
ROCK belongs here because it supports the group label "Flabbergast". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
SHOCK
SHOCK belongs here because it supports the group label "Flabbergast". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
SURPRISE
SURPRISE belongs here because it supports the group label "Flabbergast". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
blue group
Things with bills
The category works because all four entries share the same relationship: things with bills. The solve depends on applying that exact logic to every word, not just finding a loose association.
BIRD
BIRD belongs here because it supports the group label "Things with bills". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
CAP
CAP belongs here because it supports the group label "Things with bills". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
DUCK
DUCK belongs here because it supports the group label "Things with bills". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
INVOICE
INVOICE belongs here because it supports the group label "Things with bills". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
purple group
___berry
The category works because all four entries share the same relationship: ___berry. The solve depends on applying that exact logic to every word, not just finding a loose association.
BLUE
BLUE belongs here because it supports the group label "___berry". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
DINGLE
DINGLE belongs here because it supports the group label "___berry". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
GOOSE
GOOSE belongs here because it supports the group label "___berry". In the completed board, this entry helps confirm the category after the other related words are tested.
RASP
RASP belongs here because it supports the group label "___berry". 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 17 Connections board is approachable if the texture group comes first. CLAMMY, GLUEY, GOOEY, and TACKY all describe sticky or unpleasantly adhesive surfaces. FLOOR, ROCK, SHOCK, and SURPRISE work as verbs meaning to flabbergast. BIRD, CAP, DUCK, and INVOICE are linked by different meanings of bill: beak, brim, and payment document. The purple group uses a suffix pattern: BLUEBERRY, DINGLEBERRY, GOOSEBERRY, and RASPBERRY.
Caution Notes
Do not force BLUE with colors
BLUE belongs to the berry suffix pattern, not a color group.
FLOOR is a verb here
It means to astonish someone, not the surface under your feet.
Previous and Next Day
Compare today's grouping logic with neighboring guides before you move on.