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Today’s Connections hint and answer on 20th May for 344

How to group together today’s NYT Connections.

Image credit: The New York Times
Paulo Kawanishi avatar
Guide by Paulo Kawanishi Contributor
Published on

The week is just starting, and we have another puzzle to solve! But don't fret if you're still getting in the mood after the weekend. We’re here to help with the Connections answer for today, 20th May.

If you haven't played it before, Connections challenges you to sort a group of 16 words into four groups where all of the words are well... connected. This connection could come from them sharing a similar meaning, being part of a place name, objects found in a kitchen or anything at all really!

While this may sound easy, the Connection groups each have a different level of difficulty - with Yellow being the easiest and Purple being the hardest. For this reason, working out today's Connection answer might be rather tricky. You may get one group straight away, but another might be a mystery to you. Thankfully we're here to help!

Originally developed during The New York Times game department's annual game jam, the beta version of Connections was released in June 2023. Since then it has become one of the most popular games The NYTimes has to offer, only beaten by Worlde. Though some connections have been made to the BBC's Only Connect program...

Hint for today's Connections answer

Instead of jumping straight to the answer, let's start with some hints for today's Connections puzzle:

  • Yellow - Types of sorcery.
  • Green - This group indicates the act of controlling someone.
  • Blue - The outfit of well-known characters.
  • Purple - People involved with a specific movie genre.
  • Loaded belongs in the Yellow group, Cube in Green, and Square in Blue.

Remember - Yellow is the easiest group to find followed by Green and Blue, with Purple being the hardest set of words to connect.

Connection words for 20th May

Here's the words included in today's Connections puzzle - see if the clues above help you form a connection before we visit today's answer:

Carpenter Puppet Magic Underwear
Tool Woo Cape Bay
Charm Pawn Mask Instrument
Tights Spell Scott Hex

Connections answer for 20th May

Without further ado, here's the Connections answer for today:

  • Sorcerer's Output - Charm, Hex, Magic, Spell
  • One Being Manipulated - Instrument, Pawn, Puppet, Tool
  • Classic Superhero Wear - Cape, Mask, Tights, Underwear
  • Action Movie Directors - Bay, Carpenter, Scott, Woo

There are some days when most groups are too difficult to figure out, but there are others when all of them seem easy. Luckily, we're talking about the second scenario today. The first group I got was the Blue one. The Green group was my second by putting Pawn and Puppter together with Instrument and Tool. Some groups of words just pop up once we have fewer available options to consider. After the two initial groups, the Yellow one became pretty obvious. Lastly, I just needed to put the four directors together to complete the challenge.

Here's the 20th May 2024 344 Connections answer

What to play after Connections?

The obvious answer to this question is Wordle, but, if you've already solved that today, then The New York Times does offer other games. When it comes to word-based games, The NYTimes has the Mini Crossword, Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed and Strands, which is still in its beta phase. If you fancy a break from words, then you can also try Tiles - a motif matching game - or Sudoku.

NYT Games

Outside of The NYTimes, there's Semantle - where you have to reach the secret word by guessing its meaning. Spelling doesn't count in Semantle, instead you have to pay attention to the numerical value your guesses have to chart your path to the answer. If you'd prefer to keep to the Connections format, however, then it's worth visiting Puzzgrid. Here you'll find hundreds of Connections-style puzzles, the twist, however, is that you only have three minutes to solve them.

(You can also just watch Only Connect on BBC iPlayer...)

If you're in a reading mood, then we've discussed why The NYTimes Mini Crossword is a reliable joy and interviewed Jonathan Knight, Head of Games for The NYTimes.

Good luck solving today's Connections!

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