NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues - Thu, May 14, 2026

GUT FEELING, HUNCH, INTUITION, and SIXTH SENSE all describe the experience of knowing or sensing something without conscious reasoning — that instinctive foreknowledge that arrives before you can explain it.

GUT FEELING

The physical metaphor for instinct — your gut, not your brain, seems to be registering the truth before your conscious mind catches up.

HUNCH

A strong suspicion or feeling that something is true, with no logical basis — detectives in fiction are always acting on a hunch.

INTUITION

The faculty of knowing something directly without reasoning or evidence — a more formal or psychological word for the same instinctive sense.

SIXTH SENSE

Beyond the five physical senses, the sixth sense is the supposed ability to perceive things that cannot be seen, heard, or touched — pure instinct elevated to something almost supernatural.

DO NOT DISTURB, RING, SILENT, and VIBRATE are the four standard modes you can set a phone to — each controls how the device alerts you to incoming calls and notifications.

DO NOT DISTURB

A phone mode that blocks all calls, messages, and notifications from making any sound or alert — everything is suppressed until you turn it off.

RING

The default phone mode — an audible ringtone or notification sound plays when something arrives.

SILENT

A mode where the phone makes no sound at all — no ring, no vibration, complete quiet.

VIBRATE

A mode where the phone buzzes physically instead of ringing — silent to everyone around you but still noticeable to the person holding it.

BREADCRUMB, CATFISH, GHOST, and LOVE BOMB are all verbs describing manipulative or harmful behaviours that became named and widely recognised in the era of dating apps.

BREADCRUMB

To breadcrumb someone is to drop just enough small signs of interest — a like, a message, a reply — to keep them emotionally invested, without ever committing to anything real.

CATFISH

To catfish someone is to create a completely fake online persona — false photos, false name, false life — to deceive them into an emotional or romantic relationship.

GHOST

To ghost someone is to abruptly stop all communication with no warning or explanation — calls go unanswered, messages go unread, the person simply vanishes.

LOVE BOMB

To love bomb someone is to flood them with excessive affection, compliments, and attention very early in a relationship — it feels overwhelming and is recognised as a manipulation tactic.

AIR CAIRO, ALL HALLOWS, ARM WARMER, and THE OTHERS are two-word phrases where the first word is hidden as a consecutive sequence of letters inside the second word — C-AIR-O, HALLOWS starts with ALL, WARMER starts with ARM, and OTHERS contains THE.

AIR CAIRO

The word AIR is hidden inside CAIRO — spell it out: C-A-I-R-O, and the letters A-I-R sit in positions two through four.

ALL HALLOWS

The word ALL is hidden at the very start of HALLOWS — H-A-L-L-O-W-S begins with A-L-L, making ALL the opening letters of the second word.

ARM WARMER

The word ARM is hidden at the start of WARMER — W-A-R-M-E-R begins with A-R-M, so ARM is embedded right at the front of the second word.

THE OTHERS

The word THE is hidden inside OTHERS — O-T-H-E-R-S contains T-H-E in positions two through four, tucking THE neatly inside the second word.