Note : Make sure to complete today’s NYT Connections before reading further! We’ll be getting into spoilers for today’s game pretty quickly. If you need some help to complete the grid, you can find my NYT Connections hints and answers column for today via my author page .

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to my deeper dive into today’s Connections answers. The idea behind this is to help clear things up for anyone who isn’t sure how today’s groups fit together.

If I’ve missed any red herrings or misunderstood something, let me know via email or on Discord . I don’t typically look at X or check the comments here.

I’m going to assume that you’ve already beaten today’s game. We’re going straight into spoiler territory here. So, consider this your one and only warning .

Here are today’s NYT Connections answers explained (and any red herrings I spot) for Thursday, May 21:

Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained

Connections – Yellow Group

🟨 kinds of pies (CHESS, PECAN, PUMPKIN, SHOOFLY)

PECAN and PUMPKIN pies are fairly self-explanatory.

It’s possible – even likely – that you have everything on hand to make a CHESS pie already. This staple of Southern U.S. cuisine has a custardy filling that’s traditionally made with flour, butter, sugar and eggs, as well as regular milk or condensed milk. It’s designed to be made using pantry staples (I’ve never made one and now I’m tempted!).

A SHOOFLY ("shoo-fly") pie is one I had never heard of until now. It’s a molasses-based pie with a crumble on top and a gooey base. It’s seemingly named after a company that produced molasses and has Pennsylvania Dutch origins:

Connections – Green Group

🟩 things associated with butts (CABOOSE, CAN, MOON, PEACH)

A CABOOSE is a euphemism for "butt." CAN can be the same thing or a reference to an individual buttock.

To MOON means to present one’s bare bum, perhaps to shock or insult someone, or as a prank.

Many folks use the PEACH emoji to refer to a person’s posterior.

🟦 tennis scoring terms (ADVANTAGE, DEUCE, FORTY, LOVE)

LOVE is something every tennis player wants to avoid, so to speak. It means they are yet to score in a game or set.

Each point of a game is scored differently than in other sports. The first point is 15, the second is 30 and the third is FORTY. A tennis player must then win by two points to claim a game.

So if both players reach a score of FORTY in a game, they are at DEUCE. The next player to score has an ADVANTAGE. If they win the next point, they win the game. Otherwise, it’s back to DEUCE.

Connections – Purple Group

🟪 _____ mustard (COLONEL, HONEY, HOT, YELLOW)

COLONEL Mustard is one of the characters in the board game Clue (also known as Cluedo ).

HONEY mustard is a blend of honey and mustard, strangely enough.

HOT mustard is a version of the condiment that’s designed to bring out the natural heat of mustard seeds.

YELLOW mustard is the most common variety in the U.S. It’s the most typical option for hot dogs.

Connections – Red Herrings

I didn’t catch any red herrings this time, other than PEACH also being a type of pie. Let me know if you spotted one!

If you’d like to chat about today’s game of Connections and just about anything else with me and a very lovely group of people, you can do just that in our Discord community . We’d love for you to hang out with us.

I’ll be back with another set of NYT Connections hints and answers tomorrow, as well as another edition of this one, all going well. You’ll be able to find both of those on my Forbes author page when the time comes (following me there helps me out too!). As for the weekend editions of my NYT Connections hints and answers column, I’m currently doing that via my newsletter, Pastimes .