Today's Connections puzzle marks the first one for May 2025, which starts strong with a challenging set of words that seemingly don't have a clear pattern. I found that the puzzle for today uses many different verbs to informally address other topics, creating a vague series of word pairings rather than something straightforward. Without the right hints, you may be left struggling to find out what phrases make sense together.

Visualizing any word you see during a Connections puzzle is a good strategy for finding groups of words that all fit a category. Remember, you only have four chances to make a mistake, so don't rely on your first instinct. Similar to the NYT Vertex puzzle game, visualize concepts first, then look them up to get every possible definition, even if you think you already know what a word means.

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• Today's Connections Category Hints

• Today's Connections Answers

• Other Games Like Connections

Today's Connections Category Hints

May 1 #690

I managed to solve today's puzzle through a bit of luck and recognition of a small theme among all four categories. Today's theme is alternate terms for different verbs or nouns, or informal definitions of certain phrases. For example, the word DROP actually refers to dropping a bad habit, rather than the physical act of dropping something from your hand.

If you're struggling to connect the various terms used in today's puzzle, try following these hints to learn which categories phrases belong to:

• One category is about things related to alternate terms for items you win in a competition.
• One category is about things related to alternative terms for stopping a bad habit.
• One category is about things related to terms used to describe actions in making a movie.
• One category is about things related to terms used to describe smaller-sized foods.

If you want to go all out with some of your clue-searching, you should look at the category names to get some extra help. There are also spoilers for each category if you find yourself needing to solve a single category to finish up.

	WINNINGS
	STOP, AS A HABIT
	MOVIE CAMERA VERBS
	WORDS THAT PRECEDE "-SIZE" TO MEAN SMALL

Today's Connections Answers

May 1 #690

Yellow Answers: Revealed & Explained

WINNINGS
POT	PRIZE	PURSE	REWARD

This part of the puzzle was tricky for me at first, despite how I was able to pair REWARD and PRIZE together from the start. However, after looking at the puzzle a bit more, I was reminded of how games like Poker or even Monopoly have a POT for the central prize pool for players to win at times. Since earnings can be stored in a PURSE, this category was easier to group once you realized its theme.

Green Answers: Revealed & Explained

STOP, AS A HABIT
BREAK	DROP	KICK	SHAKE

Some of the terms in today's puzzle made this category hard to find, as I originally thought that BREAK, DROP, and KICK were associated with BITE as different actions. Upon some reflection, though, I realized that these phrases were meant to reference dropping, breaking, or kicking a bad habit instead. This helped me add SHAKE, as it easily refers to shaking a bad habit along with the other words.

Blue Answers: Revealed & Explained

MOVIE CAMERA VERBS
DOLLY	PAN	TILT	ZOOM

This was the most challenging part of the puzzle for me, as I had to think about which words had the most similar alternate meanings. At first, ZOOM and TILT felt like completely separate verbs until I recognized how both words are used to describe camera techniques used while making a movie. This helped me realize DOLLY meant a camera's dolly and PAN was another term associated with how cameras for film are used.

Purple Answers: Revealed & Explained

WORDS THAT PRECEDE "-SIZE" TO MEAN SMALL
BITE	FUN	POCKET	TRAVEL

When you TRAVEL, sometimes you need snacks to keep you sustained, especially during a long flight. This was the idea that clued me into this part of the puzzle, leading me to BITE and FUN as terms used to describe smaller sizes for foods you'd typically eat while on the go. POCKET-sized meals also can help you on a long road trip, giving you the last word needed for this category.

Other Games Like Connections

If you are looking for another puzzle to play, check out one of the ones in the box below.

Game Name	How To Play	Is It Free To Play?
Wordle (NYT)	Solve a random five-letter word by using color clues. Every Wordle answer can be found in our daily updated list.	Yes
Primel	Guess a five-digit number in six attempts.	Yes
Crosswordle	Find the two words that intersect each other like a crossword puzzle.	Yes
The Password Game	Create a password in this ever-changing, not-so-simple game. You can find some helpful tips in our Password Game guide.	Yes

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Connections

Systems

Released

June 12, 2023

ESRB

e

Developer(s)

The New York Times Company

Publisher(s)

The New York Times Company

Platform(s)

Web Browser, Mobile

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