NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues -
NYT Connections #1073 Tip
Four fish are swimming in this grid with one letter missing each.
What Makes NYT Connections #1073 Tricky?
Words like BLUBBER, FOUNDER, TROT, and COOK pull in completely different directions — crying, failing, running, and kitchen work — yet none of those readings are necessarily what the puzzle wants.
The editor's sharpest trick is hiding fish names inside words that look like perfectly normal English verbs and nouns, with exactly one letter quietly removed so nothing looks fishy on the surface.
This one is genuinely hard — one group is fairly easy to spot once you know Judy Blume, but the fish category and the deceptive-modification group will fight each other for the same words until something clicks.
Connections Hints for Every Word in the May 19, 2026 Puzzle
FOREVER
Connections hint for FOREVER
A Judy Blume novel dealing with teenage romance — not just the ordinary word meaning always.
SALON
Connections hint for SALON
Looks like a hair salon or a French drawing room — but here it is one letter away from a well-known fish.
COOK
Connections hint for COOK
To cook the books means to falsify records — this is the deceptive-modification sense, not the kitchen sense.
SURGEON
Connections hint for SURGEON
A medical specialist, yes — but here it is hiding a fish name with one letter removed, not referring to the doctor.
NURSE
Connections hint for NURSE
Babies nurse to feed — that infant-feeding sense is what the puzzle uses, not the medical professional.
DOCTOR
Connections hint for DOCTOR
To doctor something means to alter it dishonestly — the verb sense, not the medical title.
FUDGE
Connections hint for FUDGE
Fudge can mean to falsify, but here it is a Judy Blume book title, not a deceptive-modification verb.
SUPERFUDGE
Connections hint for SUPERFUDGE
A Judy Blume sequel about the Hatcher family — the FUDGE in the title may tempt you toward the wrong group.
CRY
Connections hint for CRY
One of the most recognisable things babies do — straightforward here.
BLUBBER
Connections hint for BLUBBER
Means to cry noisily in everyday English, but here it is a Judy Blume novel about bullying, not a baby behavior.
TROT
Connections hint for TROT
A pace between a walk and a run — but here it is one letter away from a fish name.
ALTER
Connections hint for ALTER
To alter something is to change it, and in this puzzle it means to change it deceptively or dishonestly.
FOUNDER
Connections hint for FOUNDER
Usually means to fail or sink, or someone who starts something — here it is a fish name with one letter missing.
BABBLE
Connections hint for BABBLE
The incoherent sounds babies make before they learn words — exactly what it sounds like.
DEENIE
Connections hint for DEENIE
A Judy Blume novel about a girl diagnosed with scoliosis — a proper title, not a common English word.
TEETHE
Connections hint for TEETHE
What babies do when their first teeth push through the gums — a very specific infant milestone.
Traps & Misdirects Hints for NYT Connections Puzzle (#1073)
DOCTOR, NURSE, and SURGEON all scream medical profession, and clustering them together as hospital workers feels completely natural. That medical reading is a dead end for all three. Each of these words is doing something entirely different in this puzzle, and they do not belong in the same group.
DOCTOR, COOK, SURGEON, and NURSE may seem like an easy fit for a yellow-category grouping under “Professions,” and seasoned players would likely spot that connection instantly. But the grid is deliberately playing a trick here. None of these words are actually present to serve their professional meanings — each carries a hidden decoy interpretation waiting for the player to uncover.
Connections Hints for May 19, 2026
Yellow Connections Hints
Yellow Category Hint
Things an infant does in its first year of life
Think: Think: newborn milestones, no words needed
Yellow Category Name
THINGS BABIES DO
Yellow Category Words
Reveal word 1
BABBLEReveal word 2
CRYReveal word 3
NURSEReveal word 4
TEETHEGreen Connections Hints
Green Category Hint
Verbs meaning to tamper with or falsify something
Think: Think: cooked books, rigged results
Green Category Name
MODIFY DECEPTIVELY
Green Category Words
Reveal word 1
ALTERReveal word 2
COOKReveal word 3
DOCTORReveal word 4
FUDGEBlue Connections Hints
Blue Category Hint
Titles from one beloved American author's back catalogue
Think: Think: Are You There God, same author
Blue Category Name
JUDY BLUME BOOKS
Blue Category Words
Reveal word 1
BLUBBERReveal word 2
DEENIEReveal word 3
FOREVERReveal word 4
SUPERFUDGEPurple Connections Hints
Purple Category Hint
Each word becomes a fish when you add back one missing letter
Think: Think: FLOUNDER, SALMON, what else
Purple Category Name
FISH MINUS A LETTER
Purple Category Words
Reveal word 1
FOUNDERReveal word 2
SALONReveal word 3
SURGEONReveal word 4
TROTNYT Connections Answers for May 19, 2026
NYT Connections Answers Explained: May 19, 2026
THINGS BABIES DO
BABBLE, CRY, NURSE, and TEETHE are all things babies do in their first months and years — each describes a specific infant behavior that parents know well.
- BABBLE
- Babies babble before they can form words — producing streams of sounds like ba-ba-ba that are the precursor to speech.
- CRY
- Crying is a newborn's primary form of communication — hunger, discomfort, tiredness all come out as crying.
- NURSE
- To nurse means to breastfeed — an infant nurses at the breast, which is the specific baby-behavior sense used here, not the medical profession.
- TEETHE
- Teething is when a baby's first teeth push through the gums — a painful milestone that usually starts around six months.
MODIFY DECEPTIVELY
ALTER, COOK, DOCTOR, and FUDGE can all mean to change or manipulate something dishonestly — each is a verb used when someone tampers with records, evidence, or data.
- ALTER
- To alter something is to change it — in a deceptive context, to alter records or evidence means to falsify them.
- COOK
- To cook the books is a fixed phrase meaning to falsify financial records — the deceptive sense is well established in English.
- DOCTOR
- To doctor something means to tamper with it dishonestly — a doctored photograph or doctored evidence has been manipulated.
- FUDGE
- To fudge figures or fudge the truth means to manipulate or obscure them — despite FUDGE also being a Judy Blume title, the puzzle assigns it here as a deceptive-modification verb.
JUDY BLUME BOOKS
BLUBBER, DEENIE, FOREVER, and SUPERFUDGE are all novels by Judy Blume, the beloved American author known for young adult and children's fiction.
- BLUBBER
- Blubber is a 1974 Judy Blume novel about a girl who is bullied by her classmates — the title refers to a cruel nickname.
- DEENIE
- Deenie is a 1973 Judy Blume novel about a teenage girl who is diagnosed with scoliosis and must wear a back brace.
- FOREVER
- Forever is a 1975 Judy Blume novel dealing frankly with teenage sexuality — one of her most controversial and widely read books.
- SUPERFUDGE
- Superfudge is a 1980 Judy Blume children's novel, a sequel to Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, following the Hatcher family.
FISH MINUS A LETTER
FOUNDER, SALON, SURGEON, and TROT are each a fish name with one letter removed — add the missing letter back and you get FLOUNDER, SALMON, STURGEON, and TROUT.
- FOUNDER
- FOUNDER is FLOUNDER minus the L — a flounder is a flat saltwater fish that lies on the seafloor.
- SALON
- SALON is SALMON minus the M — a salmon is the well-known pink-fleshed fish that swims upstream to spawn.
- SURGEON
- SURGEON is STURGEON minus the T — a sturgeon is a large prehistoric-looking fish prized for its caviar.
- TROT
- TROT is TROUT minus the U — a trout is a freshwater fish closely related to salmon, popular with anglers.
