NYT Connections #1061
Hints, category titles, and full answers for Thursday, May 7, 2026
Connections Hint #1061 — May 7, 2026
Connections Walkthrough — May 7, 2026
A breakdown of every category from the May 7, 2026 puzzle, the trap words designed to fool players, and what made it tricky.
Group-by-group breakdown (easiest to hardest)
- FISHING GEAR
You can spot FLY, HOOK, LINE, and NET as classic items used by anglers.
- COMMIT A BASKETBALL INFRACTION
DOUBLE-DRIBBLE and GOALTEND strongly point to basketball, helping CARRY and TRAVEL fall into place.
- MULTITUDE
DROVE, HOST, MASS, and PACK all describe large groups without needing one specific setting.
- CONTROLLED WITH UP/DOWN BUTTONS
You can finish with CAR WINDOW, CHANNEL, ELEVATOR, and VOLUME, all adjusted by up-or-down controls.
The trap words that fool most players
Words placed in this puzzle to make one category look like another.
- TRAVELlooks like · CONTROLLED WITH UP/DOWN BUTTONSactually · COMMIT A BASKETBALL INFRACTION
You might think of elevator travel, but here it’s the violation called for moving illegally with the ball.
- NETlooks like · COMMIT A BASKETBALL INFRACTIONactually · FISHING GEAR
Basketball has a net, but the set wants tools an angler might use.
What makes this puzzle clever
Several words are everyday verbs or objects, so you’ll need to test context carefully before locking a group.
About this puzzle
This is the complete solution to NYT Connections puzzle #1061, originally published on Thursday, May 7, 2026. The four categories ranged from FISHING GEAR (the easiest, yellow group) through CONTROLLED WITH UP/DOWN BUTTONS (the trickiest, purple group, which usually involves wordplay or hidden patterns).
You can browse our complete Connections archive for every past puzzle since the game launched in June 2023, or jump to today's puzzle for the latest hints.