NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, May 17 (game #706)

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #706) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• MACARONI
• ANIMAL
• KING
• MAIL
• RULER
• SCOOTER
• PLANT
• EMPEROR
• BEAKER
• BACTERIA
• COMMERCE
• SYRINGE
• FUNGUS
• SIGNATURE
• CHINSTRAP
• PROTRACTOR

NYT Connections today (game #706) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Classification of organisms
• GREEN: Tools to measure 
• BLUE: Varieties of flightless bird 
• PURPLE: Precede with a letter

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #706) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: MEMBER OF A KINGDOM IN TAXONOMY 
• GREEN: GRADUATED INSTRUMENTS 
• BLUE: KINDS OF PENGUINS 
• PURPLE: "E" THINGS 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #706) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #706, are…

• YELLOW: MEMBER OF A KINGDOM IN TAXONOMY ANIMAL, BACTERIA, FUNGUS, PLANT
• GREEN: GRADUATED INSTRUMENTS BEAKER, PROTRACTOR, RULER, SYRINGE
• BLUE: KINDS OF PENGUINS CHINSTRAP, EMPEROR, KING, MACARONI
• PURPLE: "E" THINGS COMMERCE, MAIL, SCOOTER, SIGNATURE

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• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

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A clear run for me today. My only hesitation was over KINDS OF PENGUINS, as I knew CHINSTRAP, EMPEROR and KING but took a guess with MACARONI as there seemed no likely alternatives.

Meanwhile, I got the group MEMBER OF A KINGDOM IN TAXONOMY thinking the four words described an evolutionary scale from BACTERIA to FUNGUS to PLANT to ANIMAL. Wrong, but also right.

“E” THINGS is somewhat of a cruel category as there are hundreds of products that have the same prefix. In fact, think of anything and it’s likely that there’s also an “E” version of it – from eAlarm to E-Zips. 

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

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Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, May 16, game #705)

• YELLOW: KINDS OF PLANTS HERB, SHRUB, TREE, VINE
• GREEN: DISCONTINUE DISSOLVE, END, SCRAP, SUNSET
• BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH BULLS MICHAEL JORDAN, RODEO, TAURUS, WALL STREET
• PURPLE: ENDING WITH BUILDING MATERIALS HOLLYWOOD, HOURGLASS, KUBRICK, NEUROPLASTIC

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What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.