Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a real challenge. Dog lovers might have fun with the purple group, but depending on your accent, some of the answers might not make sense to you. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Mississippi travel.
Green group hint: Hoops superstars.
Blue group hint: Think of the palindrome, “Able was I ere I saw Elba.”
Purple group hint: Woof!
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Navigate through, as a river.
Green group: Multi-time NBA MVPs.
Blue group: Non-palindromic words in a famous palindrome.
Purple group: Homophones of kinds of dogs, familiarly.
The completed NYT Connections puzzle for May 15, 2026.
NYT/Screenshot by CNET
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is navigate through, as a river. The four answers are cross, ford, traverse and wade.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is multi-time NBA MVPs. The four answers are (Larry) Bird, (Steph) Curry, (LeBron) James and (Michael) Jordan.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is non-palindromic words in a famous palindrome. The four answers are able, Elba, saw and was. (“Able was I ere I saw Elba.”)
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is homophones of kinds of dogs, familiarly. The four answers are ciao (chow, as in chow chow), palm (pom, as in Pomeranian), peek (Peke, as in Pekingese) and Pitt (pit, as in pit bull).
Toughest Connections puzzles
We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.
#5: Included “things you can set,” such as mood, record, table and volleyball.
#4: Included “one in a dozen,” such as egg, juror, month and rose.
#3: Included “streets on screen,” such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.
#2: Included “power ___” such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.
#1: Included “things that can run,” such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.
We love the American Express® Gold Card here at TPG, thanks to its solid earning rates and useful statement credits.
This gold-standard dining and grocery card has undergone a light refresh, though current and future cardmembers shouldn’t be too concerned. These Amex Gold changes are (relatively) minimal — and mostly positive.
Whether you currently carry the Amex Gold or are considering it, here’s what you need to know about its latest revamp.
Summary of changes
While the actual number of Amex Gold changes is small, they may still be relevant for certain cardmembers. This is especially true for prospective cardmembers, since the spending requirement for the welcome offer has changed.
VIOLETASTOIMENOVA/GETTY IMAGES
What’s changing
Earning rates on Amex Travel hotel bookings: You’ll now earn 5 points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked through amextravel.com and the Amex Travel App™.
Hertz Five Star status: You’ll receive complimentary Hertz Five Star status* in the Hertz Gold+ car rental loyalty program.
Monthly dining statement creditpartners: Buffalo Wild Wings and Wonder enter as new partners for the up to $10 monthly dining statement credit with select partners (up to $120 in statement credits per calendar year), and are available to use immediately. Goldbelly and Wine.com remain through June 30. (Enrollment is required)
Welcome offer spending requirement: New cardmembers must now spend $8,000 on purchases in the first six months of card membership to receive the welcome offer (more on that below).
*Benefit enrollment and registration for Hertz Gold+ are required.
Limited-time anniversary benefits
As part of the celebration for the Amex Gold’s 60th anniversary, American Express is offering these perks:
Uber One membership: Upon enrollment, receive a one-time statement credit for up to $96 to cover an Uber One membership (Through Oct. 30).
Hilton Honors transfer bonus: Through May 30, you’ll get a 20% transfer bonus when transferring Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors.
The Hotel Collection offers: Through July 15, you can receive special offers at select The Hotel Collection properties when booking through Amex Travel, such as a complimentary third night or 25% off select rooms (minimum two-night stay required).
Amex Offers: Limited-time Amex Offers in partnership with select merchants (enrollment required).
Bonusoffer: While the spending requirement increased, the actual value of the offer is the same: Amex Gold applicants can find out their offer and see if they are eligible for as high as 100,000 bonus points after spending $8,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. (Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer.) According to TPG’s April 2026 valuations, 100,000 Membership Rewards points are worth $2,000.
Other statement credits and benefits: The value of all of the card’s statement credits and its additional perks will remain the same.
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Now, let’s dive deeper into the details of what’s changing with the Amex Gold.
There is one positive Membership Rewards point earning rate change on the Amex Gold.
Category
New earning rate
Prior earning rate
Prepaid hotels booked through amextravel.com and the Amex Travel App
5 points per dollar spent
2 points per dollar spent
ERIC ROSEN/THE POINTS GUY
If you enjoy booking through Amex Travel, this is a positive change. However, we generally recommend booking hotels directly with the property, especially if you have elite status benefits to use.
This is because you may not always receive your elite status benefits when you book through an outside travel agency, such as Amex Travel, instead of directly with the brand.
The up to $120 annual statement credit on dining purchases with the Amex Gold (split into up to $10 monthly) isn’t changing in value. (Enrollment is required.)
Two new merchants are debuting:
Buffalo Wild Wings
Wonder, a food delivery app
KEN WIEDEMANN/GETTY IMAGES
Meanwhile, two merchants will run through June 30. After this, they will end:
The Cheesecake Factory, Five Guys and Grubhub will remain on the statement credit.
New Amex Gold applicants can find out their offer and see if they are eligible for as high as 100,000 bonus points after spending $8,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer.
The value of the bonus has not changed. However, the previous offer required new cardmembers to spend $6,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership (offer no longer available).
This could make it more difficult for some people to earn their welcome offer. You’ll need to spend at least $1,334 on the Amex Gold each month to meet this new spending requirement.
These changes are far from extreme and are mostly positive. The Amex Gold was updated with higher earning rates for prepaid hotels and added Hertz Five Star status without raising its annual fee.
If you’re a Buffalo Wild Wings or Wonder fan, you may be excited that they’re now included in the dining statement credit. However, if you enjoyed using your monthly dining statement on Goldbelly or Wine.com, this is a more negative change.
Plus, you’ll now need to spend an additional $2,000 on the card to receive its welcome offer.
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