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Lots of musical words in today’s NYT Connections puzzle! But of course, lots of them are red herrings and mean something different than what you think at first. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Cheers!
Green group hint: Let’s adjust that.
Blue group hint: A conductor or director’s vocabulary
Purple group hint: Hidden words that mean “right now!”
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Glassware.
Green group: Mess around (with).
Blue group: Music performance directions.
Purple group: Ending in synonyms for “ASAP.”
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The completed NYT Connections puzzle for May 16, 2026.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is glassware. The four answers are coupe, flute, stein and tumbler.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is mess around (with). The four answers are fiddle, mess, play and tinker.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is music performance directions. The four answers are allegro, forte, largo and piano.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ending in synonyms for “ASAP.” The four answers are bassoon, Belfast, Nesquick and thermostat.