Note: Make sure to complete today’s NYT Connections before reading further! We’ll be getting into spoilers for today’s game pretty quickly. If you need some help to complete the grid, you can find my NYT Connections hints and answers column for today right here:
Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to my deeper dive into today’s Connections answers. The idea behind this is to help clear things up for anyone who isn’t sure how today’s groups fit together.
If I’ve missed any red herrings or misunderstood something, let me know via email or on Discord. I don’t typically look at X or check the comments here.
I’m going to assume that you’ve already beaten today’s game. We’re going straight into spoiler territory here. So, consider this your one and only warning.
Here are today’s NYT Connections answers explained (and any red herrings I spot) for Friday, May 22:
Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained
Connections – Yellow Group
🟨 reach back out (CHECK IN, FOLLOW UP, RECONNECT, TOUCH BASE)
These refer to speaking to someone you haven’t chatted with in a while, perhaps just to catch up about what’s been going on in your lives or to see how a project is coming along.
Connections – Green Group
🟩 the way things are done (CONVENTION, CUSTOM, SOCIAL NORM, UNWRITTEN RULE)
These all refer to practices or standards that have are commonly understood to be normal in a particular place, community or institution. In other words, how you’re expected to act within a certain context.
For instance, it’s commonly accepted that lining up in order of each person’s arrival and not simply walking to the front of a queue is how things are done. Standing on a certain side of an escalator so others who want to walk up or down more quickly have room to do so on the other side is also a CONVENTION.
Connections – Blue Group
🟦 places with conveyor belts (ASSEMBLY LINE, BAGGAGE CLAIM, CHECKOUT LANE, REVOLVING SUSHI BAR)
An ASSEMBLY LNE often uses conveyor belts to move products that are being constructed to the next step in the process:
When collecting your suitcase at an airport’s BAGGAGE CLAIM hall, you’ll often do so by grabbing it from a conveyor belt. If only all airports had BAGGAGE CLAIM carousels like this:
At a CHECKOUT LANE in a grocery store, you might load everything onto a conveyor belt and send them toward the cashier. Or even send your items toward a packing area after scanning them yourself:
At a REVOLVING SUSHI BAR, dishes typically travel around the restaurant to customers’ tables on a conveyor belt. Often, the dishes are on color-coded plates that denote how much each costs. A member of staff will count these plates at the end of your meal to determine the total price:
Connections – Purple Group
🟪 starting with name homophones (CARRY-ON, EL NIÑO, LOOSEY-GOOSEY, TAILOR-MADE)
These refer to:
- CARRY-ON > Carrie or Kerry
- EL NIÑO > Elle
- LOOSEY-GOOSEY > Lucy
- TAILOR-MADE > Taylor
Connections – Red Herrings
There was red herring group of things related to airports: CHECK IN, CUSTOM(s), BAGGAGE CLAIM and CARRY-ON.
If you’d like to chat about today’s game of Connections and just about anything else with me and a very lovely group of people, you can do just that in our Discord community. We’d love for you to hang out with us.
I’ll be back with another set of NYT Connections hints and answers on Monday, as well as another edition of this one, all going well. You’ll be able to find both of those on my Forbes author page when the time comes (following me there helps me out too!). As for the weekend editions of my NYT Connections hints and answers column, I’m currently doing that via my newsletter, Pastimes.
