NYT ‘Connections’ hints and answers for Thursday, May 8
image for illustrative purpose
If you're ready to dive into today’s New York Times Connections puzzle, you’re in the right place. We’ve got your hints, categories, and full solutions for Thursday, May 8. Whether you're stuck or just want to check your answers, read on — but scroll with caution if you're avoiding spoilers!
What Is Connections?
Connections is a daily word game from the New York Times. Each day, you're given 16 seemingly unrelated words. Your challenge: sort them into four groups of four based on a common link. It sounds simple — until you hit those tricky words that could fit in more than one category.
Each group is color-coded by difficulty:
🟨 Yellow – Easiest
🟩 Green – Moderate
🟦 Blue – Harder
🟪 Purple – Trickiest (usually involving wordplay)
You're allowed four incorrect guesses. After that, it’s game over.
Today’s Puzzle Words
Here are the 16 words for today’s challenge:
PEN, CUP, JOY, WICK, CHOP, CANDLE, OCEAN, DICE, YARD, PENCIL, AUTHOR, BOND, COMPOSE, JONES, SCORECARD, WRITE
Hints for Today’s Groups
Want a gentle nudge in the right direction? Here are your thematic hints:
🟨 Put it on the page
🟩 Essentials for a classic luck-based game
🟦 These characters pack a punch in action flicks
🟪 A teaser of a clue — think ‘____stick’
Today’s Connections Categories
If you’re ready to go a step further, here are the categories without revealing the exact words:
🟨 Commit to paper
🟩 Yahtzee components
🟦 Action movie heroes
🟪 Compound words ending in ‘stick’
Today’s Connections Answers
Still with us? Here are the full answers for today’s puzzle:
🟨 Commit to paper: AUTHOR, COMPOSE, PEN, WRITE
🟩 Yahtzee components: CUP, DICE, PENCIL, SCORECARD
🟦 Action movie heroes: BOND, JONES, OCEAN, WICK
🟪 ____stick: CANDLE, CHOP, JOY, YARD (as in candlestick, chopstick, joystick, yardstick)
A Few Thoughts on Today’s Game
Today’s puzzle offered a smoother ride compared to recent head-scratchers. The writing-themed yellow group was straightforward, and Yahtzee essentials in green clicked quickly thanks to the small pool of options. The action movie category stood out with heavy-hitters like Bond, Wick, and Jones (yes, that’s Indiana Jones) — and Ocean refers to Danny Ocean of Ocean’s Eleven fame.
The purple set, always a wildcard, hinged on spotting the common “-stick” suffix — a tricky pattern if you weren’t looking for compound words.
That’s it for Thursday’s Connections! If you’re hooked, be sure to come back tomorrow for the next round of clues and answers. And for a quick mental escape, here’s a music recommendation that came through my inbox: Chicago-based indie pop artist Girl K has a dreamy track called “Alone With U” — give it a spin if you’re into mellow, catchy vibes.
