NYT Connections Hint: Clues & Answers – (#1045)
One category hides inside four words you'd never suspect are incomplete.
Written by Vaibhav RajputConnections Puzzle #1045 — April 21, 2026
Words like BULL, HOBO, WALTZ, GOLD, and THUNDER sit in the same grid as CROSSBODY and MESSENGER — a collision of slang, dance moves, accessories, and what might just be random nouns.
The editor's sharpest trick is hiding a category inside word fragments — four entries here are not complete concepts on their own but the beginnings of something longer, and nothing about their spelling signals that.
This one skews harder than a Tuesday average — one group is a quick solve, one requires you to know a specific film franchise, and the remaining two share enough vocabulary overlap to burn your last mistake.
16 Connections words and their meanings
Tap any word to see what it means in the April 21, 2026 puzzle.
OCTOPUS
Eight-armed sea creature — but here it is the opening of Octopussy, a 1983 James Bond film title.
BREEZE
A light, gentle wind — and a casual verb meaning to walk in effortlessly and without hurry.
THUNDER
The loud crack that follows lightning — but here it is the start of Thunderball, a James Bond film title.
MESSENGER
Someone who carries messages — and the name of a style of bag worn across the body with a long strap, favoured by couriers.
MOON
Earth's natural satellite — but here it is the start of Moonraker, a James Bond film title.
SADDLE
The leather seat strapped to a horse's back — and the name of a bag style with two pouches that drape over a surface like a saddle.
BULL
Often means a male bovine — here it means total nonsense, as in 'that's bull', and belongs with other words for rubbish.
WALTZ
A formal ballroom dance in three-quarter time — and a casual verb meaning to stroll in somewhere with relaxed confidence.
BUNK
A stacked bed on a ship or in a cabin — but here it means empty talk or nonsense, as in 'that's a load of bunk'.
GOLD
The precious yellow metal — but here it is the start of Goldfinger, a James Bond film title.
HOBO
An old-fashioned word for a wandering vagrant — and the name of a soft, crescent-shaped bag with a single shoulder strap.
MOSEY
To walk slowly and without any particular urgency — a relaxed, unhurried amble.
BILGE
The lowest part of a ship's hull where dirty water collects — and a word for utter rubbish or nonsense.
CROSSBODY
A bag worn with its strap crossing diagonally from one shoulder to the opposite hip — the style name describes exactly how you wear it.
STROLL
A leisurely, unhurried walk taken for pleasure rather than purpose.
BALONEY
A processed deli meat — but here it means complete nonsense, as in 'that's baloney', and has nothing to do with food.
Traps and misdirects
BULL is slang for nonsense, BALONEY is a dismissal, BILGE is rubbish, and BUNK is empty talk — four B-words that all mean the same thing. The danger is that BULL and BUNK look like they could anchor a different group entirely, so players often pull one or two out before they realise all four belong together.
GOLD, THUNDER, and MOON each feel like complete, standalone words — a metal, a storm sound, a satellite. That is the decoy. In this puzzle they are not complete at all; each one is the opening fragment of a one-word title, and treating them as whole words will send you in the wrong direction entirely.
HOBO reads as a word for a wandering person, MESSENGER reads as someone who delivers things, and SADDLE reads as the seat on a horse. None of those meanings are what is happening here. Each word is the first part of a bag name — a hobo bag, a messenger bag, a saddle bag — and CROSSBODY is the giveaway that the category is about how bags are worn.
Connections Hints for April 21, 2026
Each category is independent. Reveal only what you need.
Yellow — Easiest
See hint
Casual, unhurried ways of moving on foot
Think: Think: no rush, leisurely pace
See group name
AMBLE (IN)
See words
Reveal word 1
BREEZEReveal word 2
MOSEYReveal word 3
STROLLReveal word 4
WALTZGreen — Moderate
See hint
Words that all mean utter rubbish or nonsense
Think: Think: dismissing a bad excuse
See group name
BALDERDASH
See words
Reveal word 1
BALONEYReveal word 2
BILGEReveal word 3
BULLReveal word 4
BUNKBlue — Hard
See hint
Each names a specific style of bag by its shape or how it is carried
Think: Think: fashion accessories, straps
See group name
KINDS OF BAGS
See words
Reveal word 1
CROSSBODYReveal word 2
HOBOReveal word 3
MESSENGERReveal word 4
SADDLEPurple — Hardest
See hint
Each is the opening portion of a single-word spy film title
Think: Think: 007, complete the title
See group name
STARTS OF ONE-WORD JAMES BOND MOVIE TITLES
See words
Reveal word 1
GOLDReveal word 2
MOONReveal word 3
OCTOPUSReveal word 4
THUNDERConnections Answers for April 21, 2026
The Connections Explained
AMBLE (IN)
BREEZE, MOSEY, STROLL, and WALTZ all mean to walk in a casual, unhurried way — each carries a slightly different flavour of effortless movement, from the breezy confidence of waltzing in to the slow drift of moseying along.
- BREEZE
- To breeze in means to arrive somewhere easily and without effort, as if carried by a light wind — the movement is light and unforced.
- MOSEY
- To mosey means to walk slowly with no particular destination or urgency — a relaxed, unhurried drift from place to place.
- STROLL
- A stroll is a leisurely walk taken for pleasure — no hurry, no purpose beyond the walking itself.
- WALTZ
- To waltz in means to enter somewhere with breezy, almost oblivious confidence — borrowed from the ballroom dance but used here as a verb for casual, self-assured movement.
BALDERDASH
BALONEY, BILGE, BULL, and BUNK are all informal words meaning complete nonsense or rubbish — each is a different way of dismissing something as untrue or worthless.
- BALONEY
- Slang for nonsense or lies — 'that's a load of baloney' dismisses something as completely untrue, though the word also names a processed deli meat, which is the surface-level decoy.
- BILGE
- Bilge water is the foul liquid that collects at the bottom of a ship's hull — by extension, bilge means rubbish or worthless talk.
- BULL
- Short for a stronger expletive, bull means blatant nonsense or lies — 'that's bull' is one of the most common dismissals in informal English.
- BUNK
- Bunk means empty, worthless talk — 'that's a load of bunk' — completely separate from its other meaning as a type of stacked bed.
KINDS OF BAGS
CROSSBODY, HOBO, MESSENGER, and SADDLE are all names for specific styles of bag — each defined by its shape, structure, or the way it is carried on the body.
- CROSSBODY
- A crossbody bag is worn with a long strap that runs diagonally across the torso from one shoulder to the opposite hip — the name describes exactly how it sits on the body.
- HOBO
- A hobo bag is a soft, slouchy bag with a crescent or half-moon shape and a single shoulder strap — named for its casual, unstructured look.
- MESSENGER
- A messenger bag is a large rectangular bag with a long strap worn across the body, originally used by bicycle couriers to carry deliveries — the style is named after the job.
- SADDLE
- A saddle bag drapes over a surface — originally over a horse's back — with two pouches hanging on either side; the fashion version mimics that shape on a shoulder or hip.
STARTS OF ONE-WORD JAMES BOND MOVIE TITLES
GOLD, MOON, OCTOPUS, and THUNDER are each the opening portion of a one-word James Bond film title — Goldfinger, Moonraker, Octopussy, and Thunderball — and the puzzle uses only the first fragment, not the complete title.
- GOLD
- The start of Goldfinger (1964) — the Bond villain named for his obsession with gold, and one of the most iconic entries in the franchise.
- MOON
- The start of Moonraker (1979) — the Bond film in which the villain plans to destroy humanity from a space station and repopulate Earth from orbit.
- OCTOPUS
- The start of Octopussy (1983) — a Bond film whose title refers to a smuggling ring led by a character nicknamed Octopussy, herself named after an octopus kept as a pet.
- THUNDER
- The start of Thunderball (1965) — a Bond film involving the theft of NATO nuclear warheads by the criminal organisation SPECTRE, with the title referring to the operation's code name.
