You wake up, grab your coffee, and open the NYT Games app. It’s May 4th. "May the Fourth be with you," you think, expecting a nice, easy Star Wars tribute. Then you see the grid for NYT Connections May 4 and realize Wyna Liu has decided to choose violence instead.
Honestly, today was a masterclass in the "close-but-no-cigar" red herring.
If you struggled with the May 4 puzzle (Game #693), you're definitely not the only one. Between the guitar jargon and the sneaky planet wordplay, this grid was designed to burn through your four mistakes before you even finished your first cup of joe. Let’s break down what actually happened and how to avoid the "One Away" trap next time.
The May 4 Breakdown: What Went Where?
The board looked innocent enough at first glance. We had words like BOBA, SOLO, and DARTH. Naturally, your brain screams "Star Wars!" But that's the classic Connections trap. The editors love to take a cultural moment—like Star Wars Day—and use it to lure you into a false sense of security.
The Yellow Group: Qualities of Overcooked Meat
This was the "easy" one, though if you've ever had a bad steak, the memories might have been too painful to process.
- CHEWY
- DRY
- STRINGY
- TOUGH
Basically, if it sounds like something you'd feed to a dog or find in a bargain-bin beef jerky bag, it belonged here. No real tricks in this group, just a straightforward list of textures that would make Gordon Ramsay throw a plate.
The Green Group: Play Some Electric Guitar
This is where the crossover started to get messy.
📖 Related: Why Pop In and Out Mechanics are Ruining and Saving Modern Gaming
- JAM
- NOODLE
- SHRED
- SOLO
Notice "SOLO" in there? That’s the bait. You want to put it with Han Solo, but in this context, it’s all about that 80s hair-metal energy. "Noodle" was the word that tripped most people up. In the guitar world, noodling is just messing around on the frets without a specific goal. If you didn't know that, you probably tried to put NOODLE in a food category that didn't exist.
The Blue Group: Ingredients in Bubble Tea
- BOBA
- MILK
- SUGAR
- TEA
Again, we see BOBA. The Star Wars theme is haunting us. But no, this is just your standard afternoon caffeine fix. Once you pulled these out, the board started to look a lot more manageable, even if the Purple group was still looming like a final boss.
The Purple Group: Planets with the First Letter Changed
This was arguably one of the cleverest Purple categories we've seen in a while.
👉 See also: World War 3 Games: Why Digital Conflict Feels So Real Right Now
- BLUTO (Pluto)
- CARS (Mars)
- DARTH (Earth)
- GENUS (Venus)
Talk about a head-scratcher. Most people saw DARTH and immediately looked for Vader or Maul. Seeing it as "Earth" with a "D" is the kind of lateral thinking that makes NYT Connections both addictive and infuriating. It’s a perfect example of why you should always look for "category within a word" rather than just the word's definition.
Why Today Was Specifically Cruel
The May 4th date was a psychological weapon. By including SOLO, DARTH, and BOBA, the puzzle setter essentially forced you to play against your own expectations.
Experts in game design often talk about "mental sets"—the tendency to approach problems in a specific way based on past experience or immediate context. Because it was May 4, your mental set was "Star Wars." You were looking for Leia, Jedi, or Force. When those didn't appear, your brain tried to force the existing words into that box anyway.
That’s how you end up with three mistakes and a "One Away" message mocking your existence.
Tips for Tackling the Next Grid
If you want to stop losing your streak to these types of puzzles, you've gotta change your strategy.
- Ignore the Date: If it's a holiday or a big pop culture day, be extremely skeptical of words that fit that theme. It's almost always a trap.
- Say the Words Out Loud: Sometimes hearing the word "CARS" helps you realize it sounds like "MARS," or "GENUS" clicks as "VENUS." Your eyes see letters; your ears hear patterns.
- The "Three-Word" Rule: Don't hit submit until you have identified a fifth word that could belong but doesn't. If you see five "food" words, you know that category is a trap and you need to look closer.
- Shuffle is Your Best Friend: Sometimes just moving the tiles around breaks the visual connection your brain has made between two unrelated words.
Moving Forward With Your Streak
Don't let a bad day on the grid ruin your morning. The beauty of NYT Connections May 4 was in the subversion. It took a global "holiday" and used it to test your ability to look past the obvious.
To get better, try looking at the archive for other "themed" dates. Look at how they handled April Fool's or Valentine's Day. You'll start to see the pattern: the obvious theme is the decoy, and the real connection is hiding in the linguistics.
Ready to crush tomorrow's puzzle? Start by identifying your "anchor" words—the ones that literally cannot mean anything else—and build your groups around them. Avoid the "themed" bait, and you'll find your purple-group success rate skyrocketing.
If you're still feeling the sting of today's loss, just remember: even the best players get "noodled" by the grid every once in a while. Take the lesson, leave the frustration, and get ready for the next reset at midnight.