NYT Connections #1063
Hints, category titles, and full answers for Saturday, May 9, 2026
Connections Hint #1063 — May 9, 2026
Connections Walkthrough — May 9, 2026
A breakdown of every category from the May 9, 2026 puzzle, the trap words designed to fool players, and what made it tricky.
Group-by-group breakdown (easiest to hardest)
- THINGS WORN AROUND THE NECK
You can group BOA, CHAIN, LANYARD, and TIE by where they sit on the body.
- UNITS OF TV PROGRAMS
You can spot TV vocabulary quickly with EPISODE, SEASON, SERIES, and the broader FRANCHISE.
- STRINGS TIED IN KNOTS
After neckwear is gone, FRIENDSHIP BRACELET, MACRAMÉ, QUIPU, and SHOELACES all point to knotted cord.
- ___ PIECE
With the leftovers, test each word before “piece”: conversation piece, period piece, puff piece, think piece.
The trap words that fool most players
Words placed in this puzzle to make one category look like another.
- TIElooks like · STRINGS TIED IN KNOTSactually · THINGS WORN AROUND THE NECK
You literally knot a tie, but the group wants items worn at the collar.
- FRANCHISElooks like · ___ PIECEactually · UNITS OF TV PROGRAMS
“Franchise piece” is a real phrase, but here FRANCHISE belongs with levels of television organization.
- PERIODlooks like · UNITS OF TV PROGRAMSactually · ___ PIECE
PERIOD suggests a time division, but its role is completing the familiar phrase “period piece.”
What makes this puzzle clever
The puzzle mixes physical cord-and-neck overlaps with a final phrase-building set, so you should separate literal objects from words that only work before another word.
About this puzzle
This is the complete solution to NYT Connections puzzle #1063, originally published on Saturday, May 9, 2026. The four categories ranged from UNITS OF TV PROGRAMS (the easiest, yellow group) through ___ PIECE (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.