Today’s NYT Connections hint & answers: clues for May 31

Today’s Connections puzzle has one of those grids that looks easier than it actually is. The yellow and green categories are fairly approachable, but the deeper you get into the board, the more likely you are to second-guess connections that seem obvious at first glance. Overall, it’s way different than yesterday’s Connections.

If today’s puzzle is confusing, the hints and answers below should point you in the right direction.

NYT Connections hints for May 31

Here are some clues to help narrow down today’s categories.

• 🟨 Yellow group hint: Objects and characters commonly associated with one color
• 🟩 Green group hint: Terms you might hear around a pool table
• 🟦 Blue group hint: Informal names for people who work at sea
• 🟪 Purple group hint: Look inside the words rather than at the whole word

One answer from each Connections group

Need an extra clue? Here’s one word from each category.

• 🟨 PIKACHU
• 🟩 CUE
• 🟦 SEA DOG
• 🟪 STEAK

Today’s NYT Connections categories

• 🟨 Things that are yellow
• 🟩 Billiard terms
• 🟦 Slang for a sailor
• 🟪 Kinds of wood plus “S”

Today’s NYT Connections answers for May 31

If you’re ready for the full solution, here it is:

• 🟨 Things that are yellow: BUTTER, PIKACHU, RUBBER DUCK, SCHOOL BUS
• 🟩 Billiard terms: BREAK, CUE, POCKET, RACK
• 🟦 Slang for a sailor: JACK, SALT, SEA DOG, TAR
• 🟪 Kinds of wood plus “S”: SASH, SOAK, SPINE, STEAK

Connections breakdown

The yellow category was probably the easiest starting point for many players. Butter, rubber duck, school bus, and Pikachu all share a very recognizable visual connection, making the theme relatively quick to identify.

Green and blue sat comfortably in the middle of the difficulty range. Players familiar with billiards terminology likely solved green quickly, while blue depended on recognizing a collection of older nicknames and slang terms associated with sailors.

The purple category is what gave today’s puzzle its bite. The words themselves don’t appear related on the surface, and trying to group them by meaning doesn’t get you very far. The trick was noticing that each word contains a type of wood with an added “S” at the beginning.

What makes today’s puzzle memorable is how different the final category feels from the others. While the first three groups rely on straightforward themes and definitions, purple shifts into pattern recognition and hidden-word wordplay. That’s the kind of category that can either feel brilliantly satisfying or completely invisible until the reveal.