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NYT Connections May 4 2025 answers are Puzzle #693’s four groups: CHEWY, DRY, STRINGY, TOUGH; JAM, NOODLE, SHRED, SOLO; BOBA, MILK, SUGAR, TEA; and BLUTO, CARS, DARTH, GENUS, which become PLUTO, MARS, EARTH, and VENUS after their first letters change.
Puzzle #693 was released on Sunday, May 4, 2025. The sections below give the hints first, then explain each answer group and the traps behind the grid.
Key takeaways
- NYT Connections Puzzle #693 was published on Sunday, May 4, 2025.
- The yellow group is qualities of overcooked meat: CHEWY, DRY, STRINGY, and TOUGH.
- The green group is ways to play electric guitar: JAM, NOODLE, SHRED, and SOLO.
- The blue group is bubble-tea ingredients or components: BOBA, MILK, SUGAR, and TEA.
- The purple group changes the first letter of BLUTO, CARS, DARTH, and GENUS to create PLUTO, MARS, EARTH, and VENUS.
Spoiler warning: The complete NYT Connections May 4 2025 answers appear below. Stop at the hint sections if you want to solve Puzzle #693 without seeing the groups.
What are the NYT Connections May 4 2025 answers?
The NYT Connections May 4 2025 answers are four groups of four: overcooked-meat qualities, electric-guitar playing terms, bubble-tea components, and words that become planets or a dwarf planet when their first letters change. Puzzle #693 was released on Sunday, May 4, 2025.
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| Color | Category | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | QUALITIES OF OVERCOOKED MEAT | CHEWY, DRY, STRINGY, TOUGH |
| Green | PLAY SOME ELECTRIC GUITAR | JAM, NOODLE, SHRED, SOLO |
| Blue | INGREDIENTS IN BUBBLE TEA | BOBA, MILK, SUGAR, TEA |
| Purple | PLANETS/DWARF PLANET WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGED | BLUTO, CARS, DARTH, GENUS |
What are the hints for Connections #693?
These spoiler-controlled hints move from the broadest clue to the most revealing. The four themes bring together barbecue, electric guitar, bubble tea, and the solar system.
| Group | Hint |
|---|---|
| Yellow | Think about how badly prepared meat can feel when eaten. |
| Green | These words can describe ways to play an electric guitar. |
| Blue | Think of what can go into a cup of bubble tea. |
| Purple | Change the first letter of each answer to reveal names from the solar system. |
Why do CHEWY, DRY, STRINGY, and TOUGH form the yellow group?
CHEWY, DRY, STRINGY, and TOUGH describe unpleasant textures or eating qualities associated with meat that has been overcooked or poorly prepared. The category describes the result of the cooking rather than particular cuts of meat or cooking methods.
How do JAM, NOODLE, SHRED, and SOLO relate to electric guitar?
JAM, NOODLE, SHRED, and SOLO are ways to play or describe playing an electric guitar. To jam is to play informally with other musicians; to shred is to play fast or technically demanding guitar; a solo is an instrumental passage or performance; and to noodle is to experiment casually with musical ideas or phrases.
Why is TEA included with BOBA, MILK, and SUGAR?
BOBA, MILK, SUGAR, and TEA are all components associated with bubble tea. TEA can feel less obvious because it names the base of the finished drink, while solvers may initially look only for toppings, sweeteners, or add-ins.
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How does the purple wordplay work?
The purple category changes only the first letter of each printed word. The resulting word is the name of a planet or dwarf planet:
| Printed entry | First-letter change | Solar-system name |
|---|---|---|
| BLUTO | B → P | PLUTO, a dwarf planet |
| CARS | C → M | MARS |
| DARTH | D → E | EARTH |
| GENUS | G → V | VENUS |
The unusual spelling BLUTO is intentional: changing its first letter produces PLUTO. DARTH and SOLO create a separate trap because both evoke Star Wars, but SOLO belongs in the electric-guitar group and DARTH belongs in the first-letter-change group. Forbes identifies the Star Wars association as misleading rather than as the puzzle’s actual category.
Why were DARTH and SOLO difficult to separate?
DARTH and SOLO are recognizable Star Wars-related words, so they can suggest a false group before the correct connections are visible. DARTH works with the purple spelling transformation because DARTH becomes EARTH, while SOLO is a guitar term and belongs with JAM, NOODLE, and SHRED. The puzzle uses cultural association as misdirection.
How difficult was Connections Puzzle #693?
Yahoo’s May 4, 2025 answer guide reported a 3.5 out of 5 Connections Companion difficulty rating. That figure is a third-party editorial or community-style rating, not an official New York Times solve percentage, failure rate, average-attempt figure, or player statistic for Puzzle #693.
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The puzzle’s difficulty comes from several kinds of ambiguity: the Star Wars surface association around DARTH and SOLO, the specialist-but-common guitar slang in the green group, TEA appearing as the drink’s base rather than an obvious topping, and the spelling transformation required for the purple group. TechRadar and Forbes independently report the same four categories and answer sets in their May 4, 2025 guides.
How does NYT Connections work?
The New York Times Help Center describes Connections as “a word game that challenges players to find themes between words.” Players receive 16 words and must divide them into four groups of four, with the groups represented by yellow, green, blue, and purple difficulty colors.
Connections permits mistakes while you work through the grid, but a category can be deliberately designed so that several words appear to fit more than one group. A useful solving approach for this puzzle is to test the straightforward texture group first, keep guitar terms separate from Star Wars associations, and inspect unusual spellings for a letter-based transformation before committing to a broad cultural category.
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Eligible New York Times subscribers can use the Connections archive to play the full archive dating back to June 12, 2023, according to the official Connections archive documentation. Archive play affects statistics, but archive play does not affect the daily streak, which is based on the puzzle released on the day of play.
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Want more Connections puzzles?
Readers who enjoyed this category-matching format can find more New York Times Connections puzzles in the official Connections puzzle book, Connections: Find the Common Threads in 100+ Puzzles of Wit and Wordplay. The publisher presents it as a book-form collection dedicated to the Connections format. The book is a separate collection; there is no basis here to claim that it contains the May 4, 2025 Puzzle #693.
For readers who want several New York Times puzzle formats in one volume, the publisher’s Puzzle Mania! includes offline versions of multiple digital games, including Connections.
Sources for the May 4 Connections answers
- TechRadar’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, May 4, 2025.
- Forbes’ NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, May 4, 2025.
- Yahoo Entertainment’s May 4, 2025 answer guide and third-party difficulty rating.
- The New York Times Help Center’s official Connections rules and archive information.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the NYT Connections puzzle number for May 4, 2025?
Yes. The May 4, 2025 game was NYT Connections Puzzle #693. The puzzle’s four groups are overcooked-meat qualities, electric-guitar terms, bubble-tea components, and altered-first-letter planet names.
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What is the May 4 Connections purple answer?
The purple answers are BLUTO, CARS, DARTH, and GENUS. Change the first letter of each word to get PLUTO, MARS, EARTH, and VENUS.
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What was the difficulty of Connections #693?
The 3.5 out of 5 rating came from Connections Companion as reported by Yahoo’s May 4, 2025 guide. It is a third-party difficulty rating, not an official New York Times solve-rate statistic.
Can I play the May 4, 2025 Connections puzzle in the archive?
Eligible New York Times subscribers can play archived Connections games dating back to June 12, 2023. Archive play affects statistics but does not affect the daily streak.
The Bottom Line
NYT Connections Puzzle #693 for May 4, 2025 groups its words into overcooked-meat qualities, electric-guitar terms, bubble-tea components, and first-letter transformations that reveal PLUTO, MARS, EARTH, and VENUS.
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