Connections, The New York Times’ wildly popular daily word puzzle, tests players’ ability to find hidden links between seemingly unrelated words. Each day at midnight, a new 16-word grid refreshes, challenging solvers to categorize the words into four groups of four. If players are stuck on today’s puzzle—May 5—here’s a guide with hints, category reveals, and, if needed, the full solution.
Connections hint for May 5
Before diving into today’s hints, here’s how Connections works: Players must sort 16 words into four groups of four based on a shared theme. The categories range in difficulty—yellow is the easiest, blue and green are moderate, and purple is the hardest, often involving wordplay or subtle links.
Today’s puzzle features the following words: TORPEDO, BAT, COAST, LEVEL, CAPE, BATON, PLATEAU, HOAGIE, SETTLE, CRUISE, CIGAR, CASTLE, FLOAT, FLATTEN, FANG, DRIFT
For those who prefer hints rather than direct answers, here are clues for each of today’s four categories:
Yellow Group: Ways something might move without friction or resistance
Green Group: Elements from Transylvanian folklore and gothic horror
Blue Group: Words suggesting stability or lack of upward/downward movement
Purple Group: Man-made items that are noticeably longer than they are wide
What are the Connections answers for today, May 5?
For those who have exhausted all attempts or simply want to confirm their guesses, here are For those who have exhausted all attempts or simply want to confirm their guesses, here are the Connections answers for May 5:
Yellow Group – Glide: COAST, CRUISE, DRIFT, FLOAT
Green Group – Associated With Count Dracula: BAT, CAPE, CASTLE, FANG
Blue Group – Stop Changing: FLATTEN, LEVEL, PLATEAU, SETTLE
Purple Group – Things That Are Long And Cylindrical: BATON, CIGAR, HOAGIE, TORPEDO
Here’s a bit of a breakdown: the May 5 green group plays into classic vampire imagery—bats as nocturnal creatures, a cape like Dracula’s iconic cloak, a castle as his gothic residence, and fangs for biting.
