The NYT Connections puzzle for Wednesday, May 28, 2025 is game #717. Use the spoiler-free hints below first, then reveal the complete answer grid and the explanations for the puzzle’s two main traps.
Looking for the NYT Connections answer from Wednesday, May 28, 2025? Game #717 divides its 16 words into four groups: ways to connect, parts of a bike, Best Picture winners since 2000, and music genres revealed by removing one letter.
Hints for NYT Connections #717
Here are progressively more specific clues for the May 28 puzzle, from yellow to purple:
- Yellow: Think of ways to bring separate things together.
- Green: These words are components of something commonly used by active people.
- Blue: This group is related to movies, but the time boundary matters.
- Purple: Remove one letter from each word to reveal the connection.
Still stuck? The two biggest traps are CHAIN, which can sound like a synonym for connecting things, and ROCKY, which is also a Best Picture winner but falls outside this group’s “since 2000” boundary.
NYT Connections answers for May 28, 2025
Spoilers below.
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | CONNECT | BRIDGE, JOIN, LINK, UNITE |
| Green | PARTS OF A BIKE | CHAIN, PEDAL, SADDLE, WHEEL |
| Blue | BEST PICTURE WINNERS SINCE 2000 | CHICAGO, CRASH, GLADIATOR, MOONLIGHT |
| Purple | MUSIC GENRES PLUS A LETTER | BLUEST, POPE, ROCKY, SKAT |
Today’s Connections categories explained
Yellow: CONNECT
BRIDGE, JOIN, LINK, and UNITE all describe bringing separate people or things together. This is the most direct group, although CHAIN is designed to make the category less obvious: a chain can connect things, but here it belongs with the bicycle parts.
Green: PARTS OF A BIKE
CHAIN, PEDAL, SADDLE, and WHEEL are all bicycle components. Once CHAIN is removed from consideration as a possible CONNECT answer, the four-word bike group becomes much easier to identify.
Rank #2
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Blue: BEST PICTURE WINNERS SINCE 2000
CHICAGO, CRASH, GLADIATOR, and MOONLIGHT are film titles that won the Academy Award for Best Picture from 2000 onward. The date qualification is essential: this is not simply a group of Oscar-winning movies.
ROCKY is the principal red herring. It also won Best Picture, but its victory came before 2000, so it does not meet the category’s time limit.
Rank #3
- Value pack: you will receive 1 lined notebook journals and 1 customized black ballpoint pens with black neutral ink, for a total of 2 items, enough for you to use; note: the package contains 1 notebook
- Convenient size: the A5 notebook measures 5.7 x 8.3 inches, with college ruled hardcover notebook containing 64 sheets/128 pages and 8 mm line spacing, making the lined journal notebook suitable for fitting in pockets and bags
- Quality leather & paper: our A5 notebook is made of 100 gsm thick paper, providing a smooth touch and resisting ghosting and bleeding, compatible with most pens, pencils and markers; the lined journal notebook with pen feature premium PU leather hardcover, waterproof and easy to clean, helping the notebooks stay upright without the pages curling or bending; the ballpoint pen is designed with a 0.5 mm bold tip for smooth, non-leaking drawing, ideal for use with the journal
- Thoughtful design: our PU leather notepad is equipped with a pen holder for convenient storage, enhancing efficiency; the lined journal notebook includes 2 bookmarks for easier navigation, rounded corners for a comfortable user experience, and an elastic band to protect your privacy and keep the internal pages clean
- Widely used: our notebook is ideal for jotting down notes, diaries, business records, daily plans, drawing, or keeping track of quotes and poetry from work and life; the hardcover notebook is suitable for use in various applications, including use in offices, schools or homes, as well as for holidays, birthdays, graduations or back-to-school occasions; the notepad with pen holder makes a great gift for family members, friends, colleagues, students, journalists and writers
Purple: MUSIC GENRES PLUS A LETTER
The purple category uses a deletion trick. Remove one letter from each tile and the remaining letters form a music genre:
- BLUEST minus T = BLUES
- POPE minus P = POP
- ROCKY minus Y = ROCK
- SKAT minus T = SKA
This is the puzzle’s most technical connection. The extra letter does not need to be added; one letter is deleted from every word.
Rank #4
- Mr. Pen graph spiral journal notebook comes complete with 1 retractable ballpoint pen and 50 sticky tabs, providing a fully equipped set for organized and productive note-taking.
- The notebook is crafted with 100 GSM premium paper, offering a smooth, bleed-resistant surface ideal for pens, pencils, or markers.
- Its A5 size with 160 pages strikes the perfect balance between portability and space, making it convenient for school, office, or on-the-go use.
- The sturdy spiral binding allows the notebook to lay completely flat, ensuring a comfortable writing and sketching experience on every page.
- This versatile set is perfect for students, professionals, and creative individuals, providing a reliable solution for studying, planning, office work, or personal projects.
Why this Connections puzzle was tricky
The board contains two especially convincing overlaps. First, CHAIN appears to fit CONNECT because a chain can join objects, but its intended home is the concrete bicycle-parts category. Second, ROCKY fits the broad idea of an award-winning movie, yet the blue category is narrowed to Best Picture winners since 2000. Reading the full category wording—not just spotting a general association—is the key to separating those red herrings.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How NYT Connections works
Connections presents 16 words and asks players to sort them into four groups of four words that share a theme. The groups are color-coded by difficulty: yellow is generally the easiest, followed by green and blue, while purple is typically the trickiest. The daily puzzle is available through the New York Times Games website and app, and the daily game is free to play according to the New York Times Help Center.
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- Mr. Pen graph spiral journal notebook comes complete with 1 retractable ballpoint pen and 50 sticky tabs, providing a fully equipped set for organized and productive note-taking.
- The notebook is crafted with 100 GSM premium paper, offering a smooth, bleed-resistant surface ideal for pens, pencils, or markers.
- Its A5 size with 160 pages strikes the perfect balance between portability and space, making it convenient for school, office, or on-the-go use.
- The sturdy spiral binding allows the notebook to lay completely flat, ensuring a comfortable writing and sketching experience on every page.
- This versatile set is perfect for students, professionals, and creative individuals, providing a reliable solution for studying, planning, office work, or personal projects.
Because the puzzle is released at midnight in the player’s local time zone, “today’s” puzzle can refer to different boards depending on where you are. For this archive, the unambiguous reference is Wednesday, May 28, 2025, game #717.
Want more Connections puzzles?
If you enjoy the category-matching format, the forthcoming hardcover Connections: Find the Common Threads in 100+ Puzzles of Wit and Wordplay is scheduled for publication on October 27, 2026. It is by The New York Times Games and Wyna Liu. The collection is separate from the free daily digital game and should not be assumed to include game #717; check the retailer’s current publication and availability information before ordering.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the NYT Connections answers for May 28, 2025?
The NYT Connections answers for May 28, 2025, are CONNECT: BRIDGE, JOIN, LINK, UNITE; PARTS OF A BIKE: CHAIN, PEDAL, SADDLE, WHEEL; BEST PICTURE WINNERS SINCE 2000: CHICAGO, CRASH, GLADIATOR, MOONLIGHT; and MUSIC GENRES PLUS A LETTER: BLUEST, POPE, ROCKY, SKAT.
What is the purple category in Connections game #717?
The purple words become music genres when one letter is removed: BLUEST becomes BLUES, POPE becomes POP, ROCKY becomes ROCK, and SKAT becomes SKA.
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What are the red herrings in the May 28 Connections puzzle?
ROCKY won Best Picture before 2000, so it does not qualify for the blue category. CHAIN is another trap because it can mean something that connects, but it belongs with the bicycle parts.
The Bottom Line
The May 28, 2025, NYT Connections answers are BRIDGE, JOIN, LINK, UNITE for CONNECT; CHAIN, PEDAL, SADDLE, WHEEL for PARTS OF A BIKE; CHICAGO, CRASH, GLADIATOR, MOONLIGHT for Best Picture winners since 2000; and BLUEST, POPE, ROCKY, SKAT for music genres after deleting one letter.
Quick Recap
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