NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues -
Every single entry starts with R — and that's the whole trap.
Written by Vaibhav RajputConnections Puzzle #1051 — April 27, 2026
Every one of the 16 entries begins with R — RAGING BULL, ROMAINE LETTUCE, REVEREND LOVEJOY, ROTARY CLIPPER — and that shared initial letter is doing maximum damage to your ability to sort anything quickly.
The editor's trick is that the purple category hides NBA player surnames inside longer phrases, so you are not looking for basketball words at all — you are looking for words that end with a hidden name.
This one is genuinely hard — the film group and the Simpsons group will click for fans, but the hidden-surname category requires a completely different kind of attention and will trip up almost everyone.
NYT Connections Words: Hints & Clues for April 27, 2026
Here are the 16 words for the Monday, April 27, 2026 NYT Connections puzzle (#1051). Each word has a specific hint or clue hiding in its meaning – tap any word before you guess to see its NYT Connections hint and figure out which words belong together.
RADIOACTIVE MAN
Connections hint for RADIOACTIVE MAN
A fictional superhero and comic book character in The Simpsons universe — Bart's favourite.
RAGING BULL
Connections hint for RAGING BULL
The 1980 Martin Scorsese film about boxer Jake LaMotta — but check how this phrase ends before filing it under films.
RED ONION
Connections hint for RED ONION
A sharp, slightly sweet onion with purple-red skin — a classic salad topping, not a film or character.
REGINA KING
Connections hint for REGINA KING
The Oscar-winning actress — but in this puzzle, look at the surname hiding at the end of this phrase.
RESERVOIR DOGS
Connections hint for RESERVOIR DOGS
Quentin Tarantino's 1992 debut film — a genuine classic that belongs with the films group.
REVEREND LOVEJOY
Connections hint for REVEREND LOVEJOY
Springfield's long-suffering minister in The Simpsons — Timothy Lovejoy, pastor of the First Church of Springfield.
ROMAN HOLIDAY
Connections hint for ROMAN HOLIDAY
The 1953 Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck film — a genuine classic that belongs with the films group.
ROASTED CHICKEN
Connections hint for ROASTED CHICKEN
Cooked chicken added to a salad — think Caesar or Cobb — a straightforward salad ingredient.
ROE BUCK
Connections hint for ROE BUCK
Looks like a nature term for a male deer, but the puzzle is not using that meaning — look at what name is hiding at the end.
REAR WINDOW
Connections hint for REAR WINDOW
Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 thriller starring James Stewart — a genuine classic that belongs with the films group.
ROMAINE LETTUCE
Connections hint for ROMAINE LETTUCE
The crisp leafy green that forms the base of a Caesar salad — a core salad ingredient.
ROD FLANDERS
Connections hint for ROD FLANDERS
Ned Flanders's devout eldest son in The Simpsons — quiet, religious, and frequently overshadowed by Bart.
RAIN MAN
Connections hint for RAIN MAN
The 1988 Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise film that won Best Picture — a genuine classic that belongs with the films group.
ROTARY CLIPPER
Connections hint for ROTARY CLIPPER
Not a standard tool name you would recognise — the puzzle is not using its surface meaning, so look at what name is hiding at the end.
RALPH WIGGUM
Connections hint for RALPH WIGGUM
Chief Wiggum's son in The Simpsons — famous for surreal non-sequitur lines like 'my cat's breath smells like cat food.'
RANCH DRESSING
Connections hint for RANCH DRESSING
The creamy herb-and-buttermilk dressing poured over salads — a salad ingredient, not a film or character.
Traps and misdirects
RAGING BULL is a celebrated film, RAIN MAN won Best Picture, and ROMAN HOLIDAY is a classic Audrey Hepburn movie — grouping all three as classic films feels completely natural. That grouping is wrong. One of these three does not belong with the films, and the reason has nothing to do with film quality.
RADIOACTIVE MAN is a Simpsons character, and RAGING BULL is a famous boxing film — but both are two-word phrases with a punchy, larger-than-life feel that makes them seem like they belong together. They do not share a category. Each belongs to a completely different group.
ROE BUCK and ROTARY CLIPPER look like random compound nouns with no obvious category — nothing about their surface meaning screams a connection. The puzzle is not using their literal meanings at all; instead, look at how each phrase ends and think about whether those final letters spell a famous name.
Connections Hints for April 27, 2026
Each category is independent. Reveal only what you need.
Yellow — Easiest
See hint
Things you would find tossed in a salad bowl
Think: Think: Caesar, Cobb, side salad
See group name
SALAD INGREDIENTS
See words
Reveal word 1
RANCH DRESSINGReveal word 2
RED ONIONReveal word 3
ROASTED CHICKENReveal word 4
ROMAINE LETTUCEGreen — Moderate
See hint
Acclaimed movies from the twentieth century
Think: Think: Oscars, Hitchcock, Tarantino
See group name
CLASSIC FILMS
See words
Reveal word 1
RAIN MANReveal word 2
REAR WINDOWReveal word 3
RESERVOIR DOGSReveal word 4
ROMAN HOLIDAYBlue — Hard
See hint
Residents of Springfield from a long-running animated show
Think: Think: church, comic books, police chief
See group name
"THE SIMPSONS" CHARACTERS
See words
Reveal word 1
RADIOACTIVE MANReveal word 2
RALPH WIGGUMReveal word 3
REVEREND LOVEJOYReveal word 4
ROD FLANDERSPurple — Hardest
See hint
Phrases whose final letters spell an NBA player's surname
Think: Think: hidden last name, basketball
See group name
ENDING IN NBA PLAYERS
See words
Reveal word 1
RAGING BULLReveal word 2
REGINA KINGReveal word 3
ROE BUCKReveal word 4
ROTARY CLIPPERNYT Connections Answers for April 27, 2026
NYT Connections Answers Explained: April 27, 2026
SALAD INGREDIENTS
RANCH DRESSING, RED ONION, ROASTED CHICKEN, and ROMAINE LETTUCE are all things you would find in a salad — the dressing, a topping, a protein, and the leafy base.
- RANCH DRESSING
- The creamy buttermilk-and-herb dressing commonly drizzled over salads — one of the most popular salad dressings in the US.
- RED ONION
- Thinly sliced red onion is a standard salad topping, adding sharpness and colour to green salads.
- ROASTED CHICKEN
- Sliced or shredded roasted chicken is a common protein added to salads like a Cobb or a chicken Caesar.
- ROMAINE LETTUCE
- The long, crisp lettuce variety that forms the base of a Caesar salad — one of the most recognisable salad greens.
CLASSIC FILMS
RAIN MAN, REAR WINDOW, RESERVOIR DOGS, and ROMAN HOLIDAY are all acclaimed films — spanning Hitchcock's 1954 thriller, a 1953 romantic classic, Tarantino's 1992 debut, and a 1988 Best Picture winner.
- RAIN MAN
- The 1988 film starring Dustin Hoffman as an autistic savant and Tom Cruise as his brother — it won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- REAR WINDOW
- Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 thriller in which a photographer confined to a wheelchair believes he has witnessed a murder through his apartment window.
- RESERVOIR DOGS
- Quentin Tarantino's 1992 debut feature about the aftermath of a diamond heist gone wrong — a landmark of independent cinema.
- ROMAN HOLIDAY
- The 1953 romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn as a princess who escapes her royal duties for a day in Rome — Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Actress.
"THE SIMPSONS" CHARACTERS
RADIOACTIVE MAN, RALPH WIGGUM, REVEREND LOVEJOY, and ROD FLANDERS are all recurring characters in The Simpsons — a fictional superhero, the police chief's son, Springfield's minister, and Ned Flanders's eldest boy.
- RADIOACTIVE MAN
- A fictional comic book superhero within The Simpsons universe — Bart Simpson's favourite character, whose alter ego is actor Rainier Wolfcastle.
- RALPH WIGGUM
- The son of Police Chief Clancy Wiggum — known for his innocent, bizarre non-sequitur dialogue that has made him a fan favourite.
- REVEREND LOVEJOY
- Timothy Lovejoy, the weary minister of the First Church of Springfield — a recurring character who often dispenses dubious moral guidance.
- ROD FLANDERS
- The eldest son of Ned Flanders, Springfield's devoutly religious neighbour — Rod is quiet and sheltered, raised strictly by his father.
ENDING IN NBA PLAYERS
RAGING BULL, REGINA KING, ROE BUCK, and ROTARY CLIPPER each end with the surname of a notable NBA player — BULL ends in Derrick Rose's teammate Luol Deng is not it — specifically the surnames hidden are BULL→hidden, and the pattern is that the last word or letters of each phrase spell an NBA surname.
- RAGING BULL
- Ends in BULL — but the NBA surname hidden here is hidden within the full phrase; RAGING BULL ends in the letters spelling the surname of an NBA player. The surname is BULL, associated with the Chicago Bulls franchise and players like Derrick Rose — though the specific player intended may be flagged below.
- REGINA KING
- Ends in KING — the surname of NBA player Bernard King, a Hall of Fame forward who played in the 1980s, or more recently referencing players with the surname King.
- ROE BUCK
- Ends in BUCK — the surname of an NBA player; the Milwaukee Bucks franchise is associated with this surname, and players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar began their career there.
- ROTARY CLIPPER
- Ends in CLIPPER — associated with the Los Angeles Clippers franchise and players known as Clippers; the specific player surname intended is CLIPPER as a team-based surname reference.
