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Today's NYT Connections Hints and Answer -- Help for May 16, #340

Here are some hints, and the answers, for Connections No. 340.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
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New York Times Connections word game

Every day, we'll offer up hints, and then answers, for the New York Times' Connections game.

 James Martin/CNET

Need the answers for the May 16 New York Times Connections puzzle? To me, Wordle is more of a vocabulary test, but Connections is more of a brainteaser. You're given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. Sometimes they're obvious, but the game editor knows how to trick you by using words that can fit in more than one group. 

And do you also play Wordle? We've got today's Wordle answer and hints too.

We've also got some tips for Strands, a new game from the Times that is still in beta.

How to play Connections

Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are coded by color, though you don't know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the toughest. Look at the words carefully, and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just a part of the word. Once, four words were grouped because each started with the name of a rock band, including "Rushmore" and "Journeyman."

Read more: NYT Connections Could Be the New Wordle: Our Hints and Tips

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: Strike a pose.

Green group hint: Nail a win.

Blue group hint: Proceed with ease.

Purple group hint: What Linus loves.

Read more: Wordle Player Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in the English Language

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Photo.

Green group: Assure, as victory.

Blue group: Move in an effortless way.

Purple group: ____ blanket.

Read more: LinkedIn Boards the Wordle Train and Launches Three New Online Games

What are today's Connections answers?

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is photo. The answers are pic, shot, snap and still.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is assure, as victory. The answers are cinch, ice, lock and secure.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is move in an effortless way. The answers are breeze, coast, glide and sail.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is ____ blanket. The answers are picnic, security, throw and wet.