NYT Connections Answer

Another day, another grid! If you’re tackling the May 18, 2026, puzzle, you might have found yourself scratching your head at a few clever red herrings. Today’s board by Wyna Liu offered a perfect mix of literal synonyms, phonetic trickery, and some classic wordplay.

Whether you are looking for a small nudge or the full answer for 2026-05-18, I’ve got you covered. Let’s break down the categories and see how these sixteen words fit together.

Hints for Today's Connections

Before we dive into the answers, here are some NYT Connections hints to help you solve it on your own:

• Yellow Category: Think about what happens when a balloon, a pipe, or a relationship suddenly breaks apart.
• Green Category: Close your eyes and say these words out loud. They all sound exactly the same, though their meanings couldn't be more different.
• Blue Category: If you are a sports fan, specifically a fan of the "Great American Pastime," these singular nouns should look familiar.
• Purple Category: These look like random words, but if you rearrange their letters, you'll find something healthy to eat.

Connections Answer for 2026-05-18

If the hints weren't enough, here are the completed groups for today's puzzle.

Yellow: RUPTURE

These words all describe a break, a burst, or a sudden separation.

• BLOW, CRACK, POP, SPLIT

Green: HOMOPHONES

This category is all about phonetics. Each of these words is pronounced exactly like "pair," even the French one!

• PAIR (two of something)
• PARE (to trim or peel)
• PEAR (the fruit)
• PÈRE (French for "father," often used after a name to denote the elder, like Dumas père)

Blue: MLB PLAYER

While we usually hear these names in the plural, these are the singular forms of Major League Baseball team members.

• PADRE (San Diego)
• RED (Cincinnati)
• ROYAL (Kansas City)
• TWIN (Minnesota)

Purple: FRUIT ANAGRAMS

The trickiest category of the day! Each of these words is an anagram for a common fruit.

• CHEAP (PEACH)
• EARP (PEAR)
• LUMP (PLUM)
• WIKI (KIWI)

Explanation of the Puzzles

Today's grid had a very sneaky overlap with the word PEAR. It appeared literally in the Green category (Homophones) but its anagram, EARP, was hidden in the Purple category. This is a classic Wyna Liu move—using a word and its anagram or homophone to confuse the player.

The Yellow group was the most straightforward, focusing on synonyms for a break or a burst. Once you cleared those out, you likely noticed PADRE and ROYAL, which pointed directly toward sports teams for the Blue category.

The Purple category was the real "Aha!" moment today. Rearranging WIKI into KIWI is usually the easiest way into an anagram category, as that "K" and "W" combination is quite rare in English.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you play NYT Connections?

The goal is to find four groups of four words that share a common thread. Select four words and tap "Submit." You have four lives (mistakes) before the game ends.

What do the colors mean in Connections?

The colors represent the difficulty level:

• Yellow: The most straightforward (direct meanings).
• Green: Usually synonyms or clear patterns.
• Blue: Often involves more abstract connections or specific trivia.
• Purple: The most difficult, often involving wordplay, puns, or fill-in-the-blank clues.

When does NYT Connections reset?

The puzzle resets every day at midnight in your local time zone.

Can there be more than one way to group the words?

While some words might seem to fit in multiple categories (red herrings), there is only one unique solution where every word belongs to exactly one group of four.

How did you do today? Did the "PEAR" homophones trip you up, or did you spot the "KIWI" anagram right away? See you at tomorrow's grid!