NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, May 8 (game #697)

Looking for NYT Connections answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, plus my commentary on the puzzles.

May 7, 2025 - 15:13

NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, May 8 (game #697)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, May 7 (game #696).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #697) - today's words

NYT Connections hints for game 697 on a purple background — (Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

PEN
CUP
JOY
WICK
CHOP
CANDLE
OCEAN
DICE
YARD
PENCIL
AUTHOR
BOND
COMPOSE
JONES
SCORECARD
WRITE

NYT Connections today (game #697) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

YELLOW: Written composition
GREEN: Things used in a popular game
BLUE: Film characters
PURPLE: Add a word that rhymes with “thick”

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #697) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

YELLOW: COMMIT TO PAPER
GREEN: NEEDS FOR PLAYING YAHTZEE
BLUE: HEROES OF ACTION MOVIE FRANCHISES
PURPLE: ___STICK

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #697) - the answers

NYT Connections answers for game 697 on a purple background — (Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #697, are…

YELLOW: COMMIT TO PAPER AUTHOR, COMPOSE, PEN, WRITE
GREEN: NEEDS FOR PLAYING YAHTZEE CUP, DICE, PENCIL, SCORECARD
BLUE: HEROES OF ACTION MOVIE FRANCHISES BOND, JONES, OCEAN, WICK
PURPLE: ___STICK CANDLE, CHOP, JOY, YARD

My rating: Moderate
My score: 1 mistake

James BOND, Indiana JONES, and John WICK feel a lot more like HEROES OF ACTION MOVIE FRANCHISES than Danny OCEAN, but then Connections wouldn’t be Connections without at least one answer that’s a bit of a stretch.

Instead of seeing the link with George Cloney’s heist mastermind it was the ___ STICK quartet that jumped out when I got down to the final eight words.

My mistake came when I rushed in and put together a group of thin things – PEN, PENCIL, WICK, and CANDLE – but I almost immediately saw the error of my ways.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, May 7, game #696)

YELLOW: NOT INCLUDING BESIDES, BUT, EXCEPT, SAVE
GREEN: GET BETTER, AS A BROKEN BONE HEAL, KNIT, MEND, RECOVER
BLUE: TAROT MINOR ARCANA SUITS CUPS, PENTACLES, SWORDS, WANDS
PURPLE: HOMOPHONES OF GEMSTONES CHORAL, OPEL, PURL, QUARTS

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.