If youre looking for the Connections answer for Tuesday, May 21, 2024, read onIll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, Ill explain the meanings of the trickier words and well learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for May 21, NYT Connections #345! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to todays Connections game.

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, Ill give you some oblique hints at todays Connections answers. And farther down the page, Ill reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Credit: Connections/NYT Hints for the themes in todays Connections puzzleHere are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in todays Connections:

Yellow category - Not a lot, just a lil.

Green category - What extreme couponers seek.

Blue category - Items seen in a particular type of bar or hall.

Purple category - A fill-in-the-blank, with a word related to literacy.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for todays Connections puzzle!Were about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you dont want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

A heads up about the tricky partsSTEAL and POCKET are both synonyms for pilfer, but they dont go together today.

TOUCH doesnt refer to the act of making contact with something, but rather refers to a very small quantity. (As in, just a touch.)

Youll have an easier time with todays purple category if you keep the name of Mark Zuckerbergs social network in mind.

What are the categories in todays Connections?Yellow: SMIDGEN

Green: BARGAIN

Blue: BILLIARDS EQUIPMENT

Purple: ___ BOOK (THATS NOT A BOOK)

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOWReady to learn the answers to todays Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in todays Connections?The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for todays yellow group is SMIDGEN and the words are: BIT, DASH, PINCH, TOUCH.

What are the green words in todays Connections?The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for todays green category is BARGAIN and the words are: BUY, DEAL, STEAL, VALUE.

What are the blue words in todays Connections?The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for todays blue category is BILLIARDS EQUIPMENT and the words are: BALL, CHALK, CUE, RACK.

What are the purple words in todays Connections?The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for todays purple category is ___ BOOK (THATS NOT A BOOK) and the words are: FACE, MAC, MATCH, POCKET.

How I solved todays ConnectionsDEAL, STEAL, and VALUE all stick out as words relating to discounts, but I dont see a clear fourth choice, so lets keep looking.

Using one of my trustiest strategies, which is to look for the weirdest or least common word on the board, MAC sticks out. It immediately makes me think of Apple, and with POCKET right above it, I think there might be a ___ BOOK categoryMacBook referring to Apples laptops and pocketbook being a synonym for purse. That would go with FACE and MATCH.

CHALK and BALL are next to each other, which makes me think of pool or billiards. Maybe that goes with RACK (referring to the thing thats used to set up the balls) and CUE (referring to the white cue ball).

Looks like DASH, TOUCH, PINCH, and BIT are all words referring to small measurements, like those used for spices.

Which means BUY (as in, "a good buy") rounds out that earlier category with VALUE, STEAL, and DEAL, as words that all refer to a bargain.

Connections Puzzle #345 How to play ConnectionsI have a full guide to playing Connections, but heres a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Games app (formerly the Crossword app). Youll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, youll get a chance to try again.

You win when youve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win ConnectionsThe most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So dont hit submit until youve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If youre stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed Whistlers Mother, you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didnt fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when youre stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hintswhich is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!