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NYT Connections puzzle #705 was published for Friday, May 16, 2025. Use the four spoiler-light hints below first, then open the full solution for the category names and all 16 words.
Hints for Connections #705
Read these in order to get progressively closer to each group without seeing the answers straight away.
- Greenery.
- Put a stop to it; “It’s over.”
- An animal connects these items: each is associated with bulls.
- The link is in part of each word: they end with building materials.
Answers for Friday, May 16, 2025
Spoilers below: the category names and all 16 answers follow.
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Kinds of plants | HERB, SHRUB, TREE, VINE |
| Green | Discontinue | DISSOLVE, END, SCRAP, SUNSET |
| Blue | Associated with bulls | MICHAEL JORDAN, RODEO, TAURUS, WALL STREET |
| Purple | Ending with building materials | HOLLYWOOD, HOURGLASS, KUBRICK, NEUROPLASTIC |
How the trickier connections work
Blue: associated with bulls
MICHAEL JORDAN points to the Chicago Bulls, RODEO to rodeo bulls, TAURUS to the bull associated with the zodiac sign, and WALL STREET to a bull market.
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Purple: ending with building materials
The final word parts are the materials: Hollywood, hourglass, Kubrick (brick), and neuroplastic. This is a word-ending pattern rather than a shared topic.
What Connections asks you to do
Connections presents 16 words and asks you to sort them into four groups of four. The links may be direct associations, as with kinds of plants, or more lateral, as with the building-material endings in this grid. TechRadar describes the game as allowing up to four mistakes and says it can be played through NYT Games on desktop or mobile.
Rank #2
Answer-guide sources
The answer set and categories are consistent across coverage by Parade, TechRadar, and Try Hard Guides. These are corroborating answer guides; this guide does not claim direct verification against an NYT archive.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
Rank #3
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