NYT Puzzle Clues and Solutions for Wednesday, May 7, 2025 (Decoded)
Did you land on today's Connections puzzle? Looking for some guidance? No worries, we've got you covered! Here's a wanna-be street-smart breakdown of the clues, themes, and answers for May 7, 2025's Connections #696. Grab your thinking cap and let's dive in!
Hints for the puzzle themes
👉 Yellow category: This group deals with the journey of an injury over time.👉 Green category: You'll find contrasting words that don't play well together in this one.👉 Blue category: These bad boys ain't just playing cards, they're tarot suits. Know 'em, and you'll see your future.👉 Purple category: Are you listening for the right word, because these ones sound like fancy jewelry.
🚫🚫 Spoilers below! Proceed with caution!
Spoilers ahead for today's Connections puzzle!
Tempting fate? Let's tease out the juicy details of the answers.
💡 A heads-up about the tricky parts:🔹 KNIT and PURL might make you think about crafts and stitching, but they're not on the same team.🔹 QUARTS and CUPS might make you think about measurements, but they don't match up.🔹 PENTACLES might appear in the phrase, "you drew the Five of PENTACLES."
Category Breakdown:
🟣 Yellow: The theme for today's yellow group is GET BETTER, AS A BROKEN BONE and the words are: HEAL, KNIT, MEND, RECOVER.🟩 Green: The theme for today's green category is NOT INCLUDING and the words are: BESIDES, BUT, EXCEPT, SAVE.🟪 Blue: The theme for today's blue category is TAROT MINOR ARCANA SUITS and the words are: CUPS, PENTACLES, SWORDS, WANDS.🟥 Purple: The theme for today's purple category is HOMOPHONES OF GEMSTONES and the words are: CHORAL (that's coral, son), OPEL (it's not a car, it's an opal), PURL (What, like the fabric stitch? Nope, it's a pearl), and QUARTS (you know, the crystals).
Read the solutions if you've had enough mystery:
What are the yellow words in the puzzle?
The yellow grouping is the one that's easy to recover from. The words are: HEAL, KNIT, MEND, RECOVER.
What are the green words in the puzzle?
The green grouping isn't too hard, and the words are: BESIDES, BUT, EXCEPT, SAVE.
What are the blue words in the puzzle?
The blue grouping is the second hardest, and the words are: CUPS, PENTACLES, SWORDS, WANDS.
What are the purple words in the puzzle?
The purple grouping is the hardest, and the words are: CHORAL (That's coral, not choir), OPEL (It's not a car, it's an opal), PURL (What, like the fabric stitch? Nope, it's a pearl), and QUARTS (You know, the crystals).
Hey, if you're into puzzles, check out our past hints or bookmark this page for future references!
How I solved the puzzle:
🙌 PENTACLES stands out as a card suit in a tarot deck. CUPS, SWORDS, and WANDS are also tarot suits.🙌 RECOVER, MEND, and HEAL look like straightforward synonyms. KNIT and SAVE could both potentially fit there too, but opel and choral sound like something you might find in a jewelry store, right?🙌 QUARTS (quartz) and CHORAL (coral) work as homophones. OPEL (opal) and PURL (pearl) also fit. Used the process of elimination! The words that were more common as homophones ended up being my answer.
How to play Connections:
- Find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Games app (formerly the Crossword app).
- Check out the game board with 16 tiles, each containing one word or phrase.
- Pick a group of four tiles that have something in common.
- Submit your answer. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed.
- Keep going until you've identified all four groups.
- Don't make four mistakes or the game will end, and the answers will be revealed.
How to win Connections:
- Be aware that the groupings are designed to be tricky.
- Keep an eye out for overlapping groups.
- If you're stuck, consider looking at the words that seem to have no connection to the others.
- Don't submit an answer until you're confident that the grouping contains only the four things.
- Stumped? Check back tomorrow for more hints!
- Today's Connections puzzle is themed around healing, contrasting words, tarot suits, and homophones of gemstones.
- The yellow category deals with the journey of an injury over time, and the words are HEAL, KNIT, MEND, RECOVER.
- The green category features contrasting words that don't play well together, and the words are BESIDES, BUT, EXCEPT, SAVE.
- The blue category represents tarot suits, and the words are CUPS, PENTACLES, SWORDS, WANDS.
- The purple category consists of homophones of gemstones, and the words are CHORAL (coral), OPEL (opal), PURL (pearl), and QUARTS (quartz).
- If you're seeking guidance for today's Connections puzzle, look no further – we've got hints and insights to help you solve this entertaining challenge.
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