NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, May 18 (game #707)

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 #707) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• ALMOST
• ATHLETIC
• OPEN
• CLOSE
• WARM
• FLEXIBLE
• EXCELLENT
• EXERCISE
• AREA
• DRILL
• ONE
• GAME
• EASY
• ASSIGNMENT
• NOT QUITE
• LESSON

NYT Connections today (game #707) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Testing times 
• GREEN:Hide and seek
• BLUE: Relaxed and not easily upset
• PURPLE: First letter of the alphabet

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 #707) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: TASKS FOR A STUDENT 
• GREEN: ENCOURAGING RESPONSES IN A GUESSING GAME 
• BLUE: UP FOR ANYTHING 
• PURPLE: WHAT "A" MIGHT MEAN 

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

NYT Connections today (game #707) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #707, are…

• YELLOW: TASKS FOR A STUDENT ASSIGNMENT, DRILL, EXERCISE, LESSON
• GREEN: ENCOURAGING RESPONSES IN A GUESSING GAME ALMOST, CLOSE, NOT QUITE, WARM
• BLUE: UP FOR ANYTHING EASY, FLEXIBLE, GAME, OPEN
• PURPLE: WHAT "A" MIGHT MEAN AREA, ATHLETIC, EXCELLENT, ONE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

A rare day for me without mysteries, getting things right by getting them wrong (as in, right words no idea why) or nit picking over annoyingly named categories.

My only doubt was with TASKS FOR A STUDENT, which I momentarily thought were about physical training and included GAME instead of ASSIGNMENT. 

Meanwhile, I would have guessed ALMOST, CLOSE, NOT QUITE and WARM were describing being near to something, rather than ENCOURAGING RESPONSES IN A GUESSING GAME, having forgotten all about the childhood games to which they applied.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, May 17, game #706)

• 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

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.