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Wow, how about today’s NYT Connections puzzle? Every now and then, puzzle editors decide to go out and throw us a grid with all the symbols, but usually the symbols are… see? This one has a very different style, but it’s also a real stumper. If you gave up today and went hunting for answers, I don’t blame you at all.
In a sense, it’s easier than it looks, once you realize that icons are supposed to represent simplified versions of reference images. But that purple section was really bothering me. Read on for today’s Connection clues and answers, complete with explanations.
The Times has a Connections Bot, similar to Wordle’s. Go there after playing to get numerical scores and have the program analyze your answers. Players registered in the Times Games section can now checkout by tracking their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, total score times and their winning streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Tricks to Help You Win at the NYT Connection Every Time
Tips for today’s social media groups
Here are four group ideas for today’s communication puzzle, numbered from the easy yellow group to the harder (and sometimes weird) purple group.
Yellow team advice: Well!
Green team advice: Put it together.
Green team advice: Hit!
Purple team advice: Shake it up.
Answers for today’s communication groups
The yellow team: Found in the casino.
The group in green: Methods of tying things.
The blue team: Seen at the bowling alley.
The purple team: Flag designs.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
Definition of symptoms
If you’re like me, you just want to know what those signs are! Here’s an easy way to see what all the symbols mean.
What do all those symbols mean? We explain.
Top row, left to right: Horizontal trisection, zipper, dice, score card.
Second row, left to right: Slot machine, button, bowling ball, circle.
Third row, left to right: Bowling pins, vertical trisection, cards, ropes.
Fourth row, left to right: Belt, chips, horizontal split, route.
What are the answers for today’s Connections?
Completed NYT Connections puzzle for May 6, 2026.
Yellow words in Today’s Links
The theme is available in the casino. The four answers are cards, chips, dice and a slot machine.
Answer description: It’s hard to tell which one, but I think the cards are three rows up and three down (it looks like a spread hand of playing cards).
The chips are two spaces to the right of the bottom row (looks like stacked chips).
Three dice on the right in the top row, showing two (snake eyes!).
And the slot machine is second down from the first row (you can see three symbols pointing up, and a lever).
Green words in today’s Connections
Total means of binding things. The four answers are belt, button, straps and zipper.
Answer description: To me it looks like the belt is the first design on the bottom horizontal line.
Then, the button is a round circle with four holes in it (a lot such as a bowling ball next to it).
The lace icon is simply at the top and goes up one from the bottom (looks like two pairs of eyebrows with a shoelace).
And the zipper is on the right side of the top row, where you can snap it like the teeth of the zipper.
Green words in today’s Connections
The theme is reflected in the bowling alley. The four answers are bowling ball, bowling pins, lane and score card.
Answer description: This was my favorite! A bowling ball has 3 up and 2 down, a circle with three holes in it (confusing as it is near the button).
The bowling pins are three down the far left row (10 small circles arranged in a triangle).
The router is the icon on the far right in the bottom row (the two rows indicate trash).
And the scorecard is the right image in the top row, which shows the scorecard itself, the gutterball or miss mark, and the backup slash.
Purple words in today’s communication
Theme flag designs. How did one figure this out without solving the whole puzzle?! The four answers are circle, horizontal bisector, horizontal trisection and vertical trisection.
Answer description: The circle is the circle, duh, located on the far right of the second row down. (It appears on the Japanese flag, for one.)
Horizontal bifurcation is the bottom row, three columns above (the Polish flag is one of many that use that design, with different colors above and below the row).
The horizontal trisection is the right icon in the top row, as it appears on many flags, such as the German black-red-gold design.
And the vertical trisection icon has two sides from the left and three down (easily confused with a bowling lane). Ireland and France are among the flags with vertical trisections. (The three separate sections don’t seem to fit in the NYT puzzle, however.)
