There are layers to today's Connections puzzle, as many of the within it are related in multiple ways to try and trick you. Among today's phrases, there are characters whose prescene seems clearly defined, but are part of more complex patterns than you might expect. As a result, this puzzle is easy to make mistakes on without any hints to give you a head start.

You only have four chances to make a mistake during today's puzzle, a far cry from the usual five mistakes allowed during a daily NYT Wordle puzzle. Since there are many characters and figures in the puzzle today, I would suggest visualizing what each would do to help you find some answers. Don't always trust your first instinct and don't be afraid to take your time to start grouping words.

Today's Connections Category Hints

May 22 #711

One of the main strategies I used to solve today's puzzle was to separate words based on appearance and function. I thought about what words would do as well as how they looked when defining them, helping me broaden all the different ways they could pair together. For example, I thought about how a SPHINX acted, where they appeared in ficition, and what they're described to look like to identify how it could relate to other .

For those struggling to create categories in today's puzzle, try following these hints:

• One category is about things you would find within the grammar of a legal document.
• One category is about things related to characters who all have something in common visually.
• One category is about things you might see while exploring an area in the USA where its leaders are.
• One category is about things related to fictional figures who create puzzles in coversations with others.

If you want to go all out with some of your clue-searching, you should look at the category names to get some extra help. There are also spoilers for each category if you find yourself needing to solve a single category to finish up.

Today's Connections Answers

May 22 #711

Yellow Answers: Revealed & Explained

When I started today's puzzle, I saw how ASTERISK stood on its own as a piece of grammer used to define something else further. While I didn't think much of the word at first, I saw how CATCH and STRINGS could refer to unexpected details in a contract or agreement. When I realized that an ASTERISK can be a way of clearly defining the CONDITION or of a similar legal document, it helped this category come together.

Green Answers: Revealed & Explained

This was a much easier part of the puzzle for me, as SHREK is a phrase that could only refer a fictional ogre who lives in a swamp from a movie of the same name. Following this logic, I looked for other, similar-looking ficitional characters, leading me to add the GRINCH and ELPHABA. After recognizing that HULK refers to the iconic hero from Marvel Comics, this category's right answer was simple.

Blue Answers: Revealed & Explained

Since I have not been to D.C., this part of the puzzle was somewhat confusing, as I did not imagine how these words fit together initially. Thankfully, what made me realize the theme of this category was how an OBELISK, the Washington Monument, was located in the USA's CAPITOL. This helped me narrow down the right location, and look up how the National Mall also has a titular MALL and a large POOL area.

Purple Answers: Revealed & Explained

Characters who give riddles being part of a larger puzzle seemed thematic for today's Connections, which led me to put BRIDGE TROLL and RIDDLER together right away. These two fictional characters both use riddles to test the intelligence of their adversaries for different reasons. With MAD HATTER already included in this group to reference another Batman villain, I recognized how a SPHINX also gives riddles to complete this category.

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