NYT 'Connections' Hints And Answers For Saturday, May 31

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend! As ever, I hope it’s an amazing one for you.

Since I moved to Canada over a decade ago, I’ve been interested in donating blood. It feels like a helpful thing to do. However, I was ineligible to donate because I grew up in Scotland.

Anyone who lived or spent time in the UK from 1980-1996 was prohibited from donating blood, plasma or platelets in Canada dues to concerns over Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of “mad cow” disease. Canadian health officials removed those restrictions in late 2023 and I meet all the other criteria. But I still haven’t been able to donate.

I checked Quebec’s donation website every couple of months or so for an appointment. The only donation centers close to me that I saw were typically only open during weekdays, and the weekend options were miles away.

I work at Engadget 9-4 on weekdays, and usually another hour or two a day on Forbes and Pastimes. I don’t drive, so I don’t really have a convenient way to get to the donation centers that are open over weekends.

This week, I was finally able to make an appointment on a weekday evening at a place I can easily get to. I was more than happy to finally do that. I’m not trying to complain about the situation, since I’m sure the authorities have plenty of data that helps them decide when and where to open donation centers. Still, it shouldn’t be this difficult to donate blood.

Before we begin, we have a great little community on Discord, where we chat about NYT Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It’s a fun hangout spot, and you’re more than welcome to join us.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

As a reminder, I’m testing an extra level of hints over here at the Pastimes version of the column. Before I reveal the group descriptions, I’ll reveal one word from each group.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, May 31 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

• RASPBERRY

• CAVITY

• PROOF

• FERMENT

• PLAQUE

• BUBBLE

• CERTIFICATE

• REST

• RECESS

• KISS

• HOLLOW

• MEDAL

• FUSE

• RISE

• TROPHY

• NOOK

The hints for today’s Connections groups are:

• Yellow group — not quite an opening

• Green group — good job!

• Blue group — on a knead-to-know basis

• Purple group — a first date and a lead in a contest would fit in here

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

• Yellow group — NOOK

• Green group — PLAQUE

• Blue group — PROOF

• Purple group — RASPBERRY

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help? 

Today’s Connections groups are...

• Yellow group — alcove

• Green group — ways to recognize achievement

• Blue group — verbs in breadmaking

• Purple group — things you can blow

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

• Yellow group — alcove (CAVITY, HOLLOW, NOOK, RECESS)

• Green group — ways to recognize achievement (CERTIFICATE, MEDAL, PLAQUE, TROPHY)

• Blue group — verbs in breadmaking (FERMENT, PROOF, REST, RISE)

• Purple group — things you can blow (BUBBLE, FUSE, KISS, RASPBERRY)

A hairy moment or two today, but I was able to claim my 95th win in a row. Here's how I fared:

🟦🟦🟨🟦 
🟦🟦🟪🟦 
🟦🟦🟦🟦 
🟨🟨🟨🟨 
🟪🟪🟪🟪 
🟩🟩🟩🟩

I led with a guess of PROOF, RECESS, REST and RISE as things you might hear about in a courtroom. I was one away from a group there. Dang.

I then tried a guess of PROOF, FERMENT, BUBBLE and RISE as in parts of the bread-making process. I was one away there and realized that was a careless mistake, since two of those words were in my first guess... which was also one away from a group. That didn't make sense. Sigh.

Still, I swapped out BUBBLE, slid in REST and that got me the blues. One group down and two precious lives gone.

At that point, RECESS made more sense with the yellows. I was glad to get another group sorted out. (I can't hear the word "alcove" without thinking of my favorite film, In Bruges.)

The greens and purples were then both pretty clear. I figured the "things you can blow" quartet were more likely to be the purples, so I submitted those first and my assumption was correct. That left the greens for a victory.

Quite a few red herrings on the grid today. Along with the courtroom one that tripped me up, PLAQUE and CAVITY could have gone together. At least those reminded me that I should make a dentist appointment, especially now that I've been on my insurance plan for six months and I'm finally eligible to make dental claims.

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. Since I go with a more laidback recommendation on Sundays, this'll bring an end to this ska punk theme week. I can hear your groans of anguish from around the world.

This is a fun note to end on. I've offered up a Reel Big Fish song already this week, but I reckon "Sell Out" is their best song:

I found a very neat one to share with you tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to dropping that needle (or perhaps not 👀).

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Call someone you love!

On weekdays, you can find this column over at Forbes. Please follow my blog there for more coverage of NYT Connections and other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot!

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