The New York Times Connections puzzle asks you to sort 16 words into four secret groups of four, from the easy yellow set to the trickier purple wordplay category. Today’s grid leans into spooky vibes, intuition, modern dating disasters, and the settings on your phone, so expect plenty of misdirection between feelings, horror titles, and tech terms.
NYT Connections Puzzle Overview: 14 May 2026
Today’s Connections board blends ghostly phrases with gut-level instincts, then contrasts them with smartphone modes and relationship red flags. Several entries can sit comfortably in more than one theme, which makes the final separation feel especially satisfying once you spot the underlying ideas. Players who lock onto the horror-film atmosphere or the phone-related words too quickly may find themselves pulled away from the subtler structural pattern hiding in the purple group.
NYT Connections Hints: 14 May 2026
Use the layered hints below if you’d like a nudge without revealing the full solutions just yet.
Category 1
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Think about words people use when they “just know” something before it happens.
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Each term describes a sense that goes beyond plain logic.
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You’ll hear these in stories about eerie foresight or strong inner signals.
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Imagine the vocabulary around an uncanny feeling that something is coming.
Category 2
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All four answers describe ways your phone can behave when someone contacts you.
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Changing these settings affects how much noise or motion your device makes.
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One is the standard default, while others are quieter or completely silent.
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Picture the menu you open when you don’t want to be interrupted.
Category 3
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This set lives firmly in the world of modern dating and online romance.
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Every word names a behavior that’s considered manipulative or hurtful.
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Social media and messaging apps often provide the stage for these actions.
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Think of the terms people use when describing toxic relationship patterns.
Category 4
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Here the trick isn’t meaning so much as the way the letters are arranged.
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Each phrase’s second word actually contains the first word inside it.
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Focus on spotting the smaller word embedded within the longer partner.
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Once you see one example of this pattern, the rest fall into place quickly.
NYT Connections Answers: 14 May 2026
Ready to see how everything fits together? Here are the four groups and their solutions, ordered from yellow through purple.
Category 1:
Category 2:
Category 3:
Category 4:
Strategy Tip for Today
If you’re replaying the puzzle or tackling a similar grid, start by collecting the most literal, real-world set—in this case, the phone modes—before turning to trickier themes like modern dating jargon. Once the obvious functional group is locked in, reread the remaining phrases aloud to notice emotional tone and letter patterns, which is often what reveals intuitive-feeling words and sneaky “word inside a word” constructions.
