NYT Connections Hint: Clues & Answers – (#1043)
Four words here are the secret endings of candy you already know.
Written by Vaibhav RajputConnections Puzzle #1043 — April 19, 2026
Words like BUST, FLOP, FRESH, and ARCH land in very different mental spaces — failure, poker, attitude, and architecture — yet they all share a grid with MINT, RIVER, HIPS, and WISE, making it genuinely hard to find a foothold.
The editor's main trick is loading the grid with words that each carry two or three strong everyday meanings, so your first instinct about almost every word is probably pointing at the wrong group.
This one runs harder than average — one or two groups may click quickly, but the candy category in particular requires you to mentally attach a hidden word to each answer, which is the kind of lateral step that costs people their streaks.
16 Connections words and their meanings
Tap any word to see what it means in the April 19, 2026 puzzle.
MINT
A fresh herb and a coin-making facility — but here it is the last word of a well-known candy brand, not a flavour or a factory.
ARCH
An architectural curve, or an adjective meaning deliberately teasing and superior — that second meaning is the one in play.
DUD
Something that fails to work — a dud firework, a dud battery — but here it is the last syllable of a candy brand, not a synonym for failure.
HOLE
A gap or opening — and in Texas Hold 'Em, hole cards are the two private cards dealt face-down to each player.
FRESH
Can mean new, or impudently cheeky — as in 'don't get fresh with me' — that attitude sense is what this puzzle uses.
BUST
Can mean to break, go bankrupt, or a sculpture of someone's head and shoulders — here it is a dress measurement taken around the chest.
KID
A child, or a young goat — but here it is the last word of a candy brand name, not a reference to youth.
FLOP
In poker, the flop is the first three community cards dealt face-up on the table — the failure meaning is a decoy.
WAIST
The narrowest part of the torso — one of the standard measurements taken when fitting a dress or garment.
WISE
Knowledgeable, yes — but also used to mean impudent or cheeky, as in 'don't get wise with me.'
RIVER
A body of flowing water — and in Texas Hold 'Em, the river is the fifth and final community card dealt.
SASSY
Boldly cheeky and disrespectful in an entertaining way — the most straightforwardly attitude-forward word in the grid.
TURN
In Texas Hold 'Em, the turn is the fourth community card dealt face-up — not a rotation or a change of direction.
LENGTH
The measurement of how long something is — in dress fitting, it refers to the garment's overall length from shoulder or waist to hem.
CAP
A hat, or a limit on something — but here it is the last word of a candy brand name, not headwear or a ceiling.
HIPS
The measurement around the widest part of the pelvis — a standard dress fitting dimension alongside waist and bust.
Traps and misdirects
BUST means to fail or go broke, FLOP is what a bad movie does, and DUD is a thing that simply does not work — all three scream failure or disappointment. That shared sense of failure is a red herring. These three words belong to three completely different categories, and none of them is here because of what it means when something goes wrong.
All four of these words can mean cheeky or impudent — a wise remark, a fresh kid, an arch tone, a sassy comeback — and that cluster feels airtight. This one is actually correct, so the trap runs the other direction: players who doubt it and start pulling words out will burn mistakes fast. Trust the obvious read here.
RIVER, TURN, and FLOP are three of the four community card rounds in Texas Hold 'Em poker, and they feel like a natural trio. The trap is stopping at three — there is a fourth poker term hiding elsewhere in the grid that completes this group, and if you lock in only these three you will stall.
MINT is a fresh herb or a place that makes coins, CAP is a hat or a limit, and KID is a child or a young goat — each word has a perfectly good standalone meaning that has nothing to do with sweets. None of those everyday meanings are what the puzzle wants. Each of these words is the final syllable of a specific candy brand name, and that is the only reading that matters here.
Connections Hints for April 19, 2026
Each category is independent. Reveal only what you need.
Yellow — Easiest
See hint
Four words all meaning impudent, bold, or disrespectful
Think: Think: talking back, attitude, nerve
See group name
CHEEKY
See words
Reveal word 1
ARCHReveal word 2
FRESHReveal word 3
SASSYReveal word 4
WISEGreen — Moderate
See hint
Numbers a tailor writes down when fitting a garment
Think: Think: tape measure, dressmaker
See group name
DRESS MEASUREMENTS
See words
Reveal word 1
BUSTReveal word 2
HIPSReveal word 3
LENGTHReveal word 4
WAISTBlue — Hard
See hint
The four stages when community cards hit the table
Think: Think: poker, board, deal order
See group name
CARDS IN TEXAS HOLD 'EM
See words
Reveal word 1
FLOPReveal word 2
HOLEReveal word 3
RIVERReveal word 4
TURNPurple — Hardest
See hint
Each word finishes a candy brand name you know
Think: Think: sweet shop, brand suffix
See group name
LAST WORDS OF CANDY BRANDS IN THE SINGULAR
See words
Reveal word 1
CAPReveal word 2
DUDReveal word 3
KIDReveal word 4
MINTConnections Answers for April 19, 2026
The Connections Explained
CHEEKY
ARCH, FRESH, SASSY, and WISE all mean impudent, boldly cheeky, or disrespectfully clever — each word carries that attitude sense alongside its more common meanings, which is exactly what makes them hard to pin down.
- ARCH
- Used as an adjective, arch means deliberately teasing or knowingly superior — an arch remark is one delivered with a smug, playful cheekiness.
- FRESH
- To get fresh with someone means to be impudent or overly familiar in a disrespectful way — 'don't get fresh with me' is the classic usage.
- SASSY
- Sassy means lively, bold, and cheeky in a way that is entertaining but slightly disrespectful — the most direct synonym for cheeky in the group.
- WISE
- To get wise or to make a wise remark means to be impudent or smart-mouthed — 'don't get wise with me' mirrors the fresh usage exactly.
DRESS MEASUREMENTS
BUST, HIPS, LENGTH, and WAIST are the four standard measurements a tailor or dressmaker takes when fitting a dress — each refers to a specific dimension of the body or garment.
- BUST
- The bust measurement is taken around the fullest part of the chest — it is the first number listed on most dress size charts.
- HIPS
- The hips measurement goes around the widest part of the pelvis — typically the largest of the three body measurements on a size chart.
- LENGTH
- The length measurement records how long the dress is from a fixed point — usually shoulder to hem or waist to hem — depending on the style.
- WAIST
- The waist measurement is taken at the narrowest part of the torso — it sits between bust and hips on every standard dress measurement guide.
CARDS IN TEXAS HOLD 'EM
FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, and TURN are all terms for the community or private cards dealt in Texas Hold 'Em poker — each names a specific stage or type of card in the game.
- FLOP
- The flop is the first three community cards dealt face-up on the table simultaneously — it is the biggest single reveal in a hand.
- HOLE
- Hole cards are the two private cards dealt face-down to each player at the start — only that player can see them.
- RIVER
- The river is the fifth and final community card dealt face-up — it is the last chance for players to improve their hand before the showdown.
- TURN
- The turn is the fourth community card dealt face-up, coming after the flop and before the river — it is also called fourth street.
LAST WORDS OF CANDY BRANDS IN THE SINGULAR
CAP, DUD, KID, and MINT are each the final word of a well-known candy brand name — Bottle Cap, Milk Dud, Sour Kid (or similar), and Junior Mint — stripped of everything that comes before it.
- CAP
- CAP is the last word of Bottle Caps — the fizzy candy tablets shaped like bottle caps and sold in rolls.
- DUD
- DUD is the last word of Milk Duds — the chocolate-covered caramel candies known for sticking to your teeth.
- KID
- KID is the last word of Sour Kid — though this may refer to a specific regional or seasonal candy brand; the puzzle uses it as the singular final word of a candy name.
- MINT
- MINT is the last word of Junior Mints — the small chocolate-covered peppermint candies that are a classic cinema snack.
