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Spoiler-light hints for Connections #718
The clues, in the order of the game’s color groups:
- Yellow: Tribute
- Green: Satisfactory
- Blue: Dunkin and Krispy
- Purple: A connecting word that rhymes with “stuff”
All 16 words
FROST, RIGHT, MUSCULAR, HONOR, HAIL, FIT, POLISH, POWDER, PROPER, ENTHUSIAST, NUDE, APPLAUD, SPRINKLE, PRAISE, APT, GLAZE.
Connections #718 answers
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | SALUTE | APPLAUD, HAIL, HONOR, PRAISE |
| Green | SUITABLE | APT, FIT, PROPER, RIGHT |
| Blue | VERBS FOR FINISHING DONUTS | FROST, GLAZE, POWDER, SPRINKLE |
| Purple | WHAT “BUFF” MIGHT MEAN | ENTHUSIAST, MUSCULAR, NUDE, POLISH |
Why the donut group is easy to miss
FROST, POWDER, and SPRINKLE can suggest snow, making HAIL look like a natural fourth match. But the actual blue category is about ways to finish donuts: FROST, GLAZE, POWDER, and SPRINKLE. HAIL belongs with APPLAUD, HONOR, and PRAISE in the yellow group.
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How the purple group works
The purple category brings together different meanings or uses of “buff”: an enthusiast, muscular, nude, and polish. Those meanings do not form an obvious single scene, so the shared-word clue is more useful than trying to connect the four words by their surface meanings alone.
A useful way to check a proposed group
Connections asks you to divide 16 words into four groups of four based on shared themes. Before submitting a plausible set, check whether one or more words fit another compelling category among the remaining choices. Here, the snow reading accounts for three words but leaves the donut-finishing verbs FROST, GLAZE, POWDER, and SPRINKLE as the stronger complete set. A study of lateral-thinking puzzles describes the challenge in terms of linguistic and lateral reasoning, including the role of distractors: “Missed Connections: Lateral Thinking Puzzles for Large Language Models”.
Rank #2
Sources and date
The date, game number, hints, word bank, and answers are cross-checked against TechRadar’s May 28, 2025 guide and its syndicated Inkl copy. The guide appeared the day before the May 29 puzzle. The official NYT Games page could not be accessed for verification, so these answer details are attributed to those published guides.
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