New York Times Connections game #903 hints and answers

The NYT Connections game #903 features four categories of words. The categories are: "Put up with" (TOLERATE, BEAR, STAND, STOMACH, SWALLOW), "Dismal failure" (FLOP, BUST, LEMON, MISS, TURKEY), "Skull and crossbones characters" (HOOK, LUFFY, SILVER, SPARROW), and "Sounds colorful" (CAMEROON, COCKATIEL, UNREAD, WHISTLEBLEW). The puzzle was rated as hard, with the author making two mistakes, initially grouping birds and misidentifying a pirate.