Honestly, some days the NYT Connections puzzle feels like a gentle morning breeze, and other days it feels like Wyna Liu is personally trying to ruin your streak. May 2 was one of those days where the board looked like a jumbled mess of barbecue pit leftovers and random art history terms. If you found yourself staring at the word "DOG" and "STATUE" wondering how on earth they could possibly coexist in the same universe, you definitely weren't alone.
The NYT Connections hints May 2 usually start with people looking for the obvious. But "obvious" is a trap in this game. You see "ACE," "JACK," and "JOKER" and your brain screams playing cards! It’s a classic red herring that the New York Times editors love to bake into the grid.
The Breakdown: What Actually Happened on May 2
When you sit down with your coffee to solve this thing, you’re usually looking for four distinct buckets. On May 2, those buckets were surprisingly varied. We had a mix of physical objects, structural engineering, food, and some very clever wordplay that required you to think about what comes before a specific word.
The Yellow Group: Kinds of Carvings
This was supposedly the "easiest" group, though if you aren't an art buff, "RELIEF" might have felt like a bit of a stretch.
- BUST
- RELIEF
- STATUE
- TORSO
Most people snagged "STATUE" and "BUST" pretty quickly. The trick was realizing "RELIEF" wasn't referring to the feeling you get when you finally solve the puzzle, but rather that 2D-meets-3D carving style you see on old temple walls.
The Green Group: Pillar
This one was all about structural support. It was fairly straightforward once you cleared the "carvings" out of the way, but "BRACE" and "PROP" are words that often moonshine in other categories.
- BRACE
- POST
- PROP
- SUPPORT
The Blue Group: BBQ Offerings
This is where the game got a little "mischievous," as the developers like to put it. Seeing "DOG" on a board with "GOOSE" and "TURTLE" (from the purple group) makes you want to click "Animals" immediately.
- DOG
- LINK
- RIB
- WING
"LINK" is the sneaky one here. It’s a sausage link, obviously, but in a grid full of words, it’s easy to think of "web link" or "chain link" before you think of a bratwurst.
The Purple Category: The "Neck" Connection
The purple category is notorious for being the "diabolical" one. It usually involves words that share a common prefix, suffix, or a missing word that completes a phrase. For the NYT Connections hints May 2, the missing link was the word "NECK."
- BOTTLE (Bottleneck)
- BREAK (Breakneck)
- GOOSE (Gooseneck)
- TURTLE (Turtleneck)
If you were looking at "GOOSE" and "TURTLE" and trying to find two other animals, you likely wasted a few guesses. This is why shuffling the board is so important. When you see "BOTTLE" next to "BREAK," the "NECK" connection starts to vibrate a little louder in your brain.
Why This Specific Puzzle Was So Tricky
The overlap was brutal. You had the "playing card" trap with ACE, JACK, and JOKER (from the May 2, 2024 version) or the "animal" trap with DOG, GOOSE, and TURTLE (from the May 2, 2025 version).
Language is fluid. The editors know that. They know that when you see "POST," you think of social media or the mail. They know "WING" makes you think of an airplane before a chicken wing. To win at Connections, you have to look at a word and ask, "What else could this be?"
How to Handle Future May 2 Style Puzzles
Don't just click the first four words that look like a group. If you find five words that fit a category, stop. That means one of those words belongs somewhere else, or the entire category is a red herring designed to burn through your four mistakes.
Actionable Strategies for Your Next Game:
- The "One-Away" Rule: If the game tells you you're "one away," don't just swap one word randomly. Look at the remaining 12 words and see if there's a synonym you missed.
- Say it Out Loud: Especially for the purple categories. Often, the connection is phonetic or rhythmic.
- Ignore the Colors: Sometimes the "purple" category is the first one you'll see because you happen to know a specific niche (like Joaquin Phoenix movies, which appeared in a previous May 2 puzzle).
- Check for Compound Words: If you see words like "BOTTLE" or "BREAK," immediately try adding words like "NECK," "WATER," or "HEAD" to see if a pattern emerges.
The best way to get better is to keep playing, but also to recognize when the puzzle is trying to lead you down a primrose path. May 2 was a masterclass in redirection.
If you're still struggling with today's grid, take a breath. Step away for ten minutes. Usually, when you come back, the word "LINK" stops being a URL and starts being a sausage.
🔗 Read more: Why Skyrim PS3 Was Actually a Disaster (And Why People Still Play It)
Next Steps for You:
Go back to the current board and look for any words that can be paired with a common body part or household item. If you see "HEAD" or "BACK" hidden in the definitions, you've likely found your purple category.