Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 31, #1085

Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 31, #1085

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Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle No. 1,085 for Sunday, May 31.

Headshot of Gael Cooper
Headshot of 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.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


Today's NYT Connections puzzle is a toughy. The purple category requires you to see four similar words buried in other words. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

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: Color of this category.

Green group hint: Think 8-ball.

Blue group hint: Their office is the sea.

Purple group hint: Add a letter.

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Things that are yellow.

Green group: Billiards terms.

Blue group: Slang for a sailor.

Purple group: Kinds of wood plus "s."

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

What are today's Connections answers?

completed NYT Connections puzzle for May 31, 2026, #1,085

The completed NYT Connections puzzle for May 31, 2026.

NYT/Screenshot by CNET

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is things that are yellow. The four answers are butter, Pikachu, rubber duck and school bus.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is billiards terms. The four answers are break, cue, pocket and rack.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is slang for a sailor. The four answers are jack, salt, sea dog and tar.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is kinds of wood plus "s." The four answers are sash (ash), soak (oak), spine (pine) and steak (teak).

Headshot of 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.

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