NYT Connections Monday, May 18, 2026 - Complete Answers & Solutions

Welcome to today's NYT Connections puzzle solution! Below you'll find all the answers, hints, and explanations for the May 18, 2026 puzzle. Each group is color-coded by difficulty level, from yellow (easiest) to purple (hardest).

🎯 Complete Solutions by Difficulty

🟡 Yellow (Easiest): Homophones

Words: PAIR, PARE, PEAR, PÉRE
💡 Hint: Homophones

This straightforward category connects words that homophones.

🟢 Green (Easy): Rupture

Words: BLOW, CRACK, POP, SPLIT
💡 Hint: Rupture

This moderately easy category connects words that rupture.

🔵 Blue (Medium): MLB player

Words: PADRE, RED, ROYAL, TWIN
💡 Hint: MLB player

This challenging category connects words that mlb player.

🟣 Purple (Hardest): Fruit anagrams

Words: CHEAP, EARP, LUMP, WIKI
💡 Hint: Fruit anagrams

This most difficult category connects words that fruit anagrams.

🧩 How to Solve NYT Connections

NYT Connections is a daily word puzzle where you need to find groups of four words that share something in common. Here are some tips:

📝 All 16 Words

Today's puzzle featured these 16 words: PAIR, PARE, PEAR, PÉRE, BLOW, CRACK, POP, SPLIT, PADRE, RED, ROYAL, TWIN, CHEAP, EARP, LUMP, WIKI

🎮 About NYT Connections

NYT Connections is a daily word puzzle game by The New York Times. Players must identify four groups of four words that share a common theme. The categories range from straightforward (yellow) to tricky wordplay (purple). Each puzzle has exactly one solution, and you have four mistakes before the game ends.

New puzzles are released daily at midnight ET. Come back tomorrow for the next puzzle solution!