NYT Connections game #707 was published on Sunday, May 18, 2025. The puzzle’s groups were tasks for a student, encouraging responses in a guessing game, words describing someone up for anything, and different meanings of “A.”
Use the hints below before revealing the complete answers.
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NYT Connections #707 hints for May 18
- Yellow: Testing times
- Green: Hide and seek
- Blue: Relaxed and not easily upset
- Purple: First letter of the alphabet
More specifically, the four categories were:
- Tasks for a student
- Encouraging responses in a guessing game
- Up for anything
- What “A” might mean
NYT Connections answers for Sunday, May 18
Spoiler warning: The complete answers are below.
Yellow: TASKS FOR A STUDENT
ASSIGNMENT, DRILL, EXERCISE, LESSON
Each word can describe work or an activity given to a student. DRILL and EXERCISE are intended as academic terms here, although both can also suggest physical training.
Green: ENCOURAGING RESPONSES IN A GUESSING GAME
ALMOST, CLOSE, NOT QUITE, WARM
These are ways to tell a player that a guess is near the answer. WARM points to the familiar “warmer or colder” guessing-game clue, rather than to temperature.
#1 Best Overall
Blue: UP FOR ANYTHING
EASY, FLEXIBLE, GAME, OPEN
These words can describe someone who is accommodating, adaptable or willing to participate. Common phrases include “I’m easy,” “I’m flexible,” “I’m game” and “I’m open.”
Purple: WHAT “A” MIGHT MEAN
AREA, ATHLETIC, EXCELLENT, ONE
This was the loosest and most disputed category. A can represent area in mathematical notation, indicate an excellent grade, and work as the indefinite article meaning “one.” ATHLETIC is the least direct entry: it is an A-starting word included under the puzzle’s broad “what A might mean” framing, rather than a universally standard definition of the letter.
The full 16-word grid
The grid contained:
ALMOST, ATHLETIC, OPEN, CLOSE, WARM, FLEXIBLE, EXCELLENT, EXERCISE, AREA, DRILL, ONE, GAME, EASY, ASSIGNMENT, NOT QUITE, LESSON
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Why GAME is not a student task
GAME can look like it belongs with ASSIGNMENT, DRILL and EXERCISE because students can be assigned a game. Its intended connection is the phrase “I’m game,” meaning willing to take part or try something.
Why WARM is not a temperature word
WARM is used as feedback in a guessing game. Together with ALMOST, CLOSE and NOT QUITE, it signals that the guess is approaching the target.
Why the purple group is not simply words beginning with A
All four purple entries begin with the letter A, but the category is not merely “words beginning with A.” It asks what “A” might mean through several associations: a mathematical variable, a grade, the article meaning “one,” and the puzzle’s looser association represented by ATHLETIC. That makes purple harder to infer from a single consistent definition.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How difficult was the purple category?
Purple was the puzzle’s most debatable group. Some solvers found ATHLETIC difficult to connect to the letter A, especially without expecting an abbreviation-style or indirect category. The intended answer is still the published grouping above, but the connection is less immediately accessible than the three other categories.
For additional contemporary explanations of the clues and groupings, see TechRadar’s breakdown, Parade’s answer guide and Forbes’ analysis. Cambridge Dictionary also explains the uses of “a”.
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