NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues -
Half these words are moonlighting as something completely different.
Written by Vaibhav RajputConnections Puzzle #1052 — April 28, 2026
Words like CHECK, MATCH, CALL, and SCREEN scatter across this grid looking like they belong together — a sports-and-verification cluster that feels almost too obvious.
The editor's trick is that one entire category works by attaching a hidden prefix to each word, and nothing about the words themselves signals that connection.
Easy difficulty — one group snaps into place quickly, one requires ignoring the most obvious meaning of every word in it, and the remaining two sit in an uncomfortable middle ground.
NYT Connections Words: Hints & Clues for April 28, 2026
Here are the 16 words for the Tuesday, April 28, 2026 NYT Connections puzzle (#1052). 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.
CALL
Connections hint for CALL
A plea or summons — to call on someone for help is an entreaty, not a phone call or referee's decision.
TAN
Connections hint for TAN
A golden-brown skin colour from sun exposure — and the second half of a compound word starting with SUN.
DRY
Connections hint for DRY
What you do to laundry after washing it — tumble dry, hang to dry, dry on a rack.
FLOWER
Connections hint for FLOWER
The bloom of a plant — and the second half of a compound word starting with SUN, as in the tall yellow plant.
CHECK
Connections hint for CHECK
A paper slip you tear from a book — not a verification tick or a chess move, but the kind bound in a checkbook.
DIAL
Connections hint for DIAL
Looks like a verb meaning to phone someone, but here it completes a compound word — the kind you use to tell time outdoors.
FOLD
Connections hint for FOLD
What you do to laundry once it is dry — fold shirts, fold towels, fold and put away.
BID
Connections hint for BID
A formal plea or attempt to obtain something — to make a bid for peace is an entreaty, not an auction price.
MATCH
Connections hint for MATCH
The kind you strike to light a fire — sold in a book of matches, not a sporting contest.
SORT
Connections hint for SORT
Separating laundry into piles before washing — lights from darks, colours from whites.
STAMP
Connections hint for STAMP
The kind you lick and stick — sold in a book of stamps at the post office, not a foot stomp.
APPEAL
Connections hint for APPEAL
A sincere request or plea — to make an appeal is to entreat someone, not a legal appeal to a court.
WASH
Connections hint for WASH
The first step of laundry day — put it in the machine and wash it.
SCREEN
Connections hint for SCREEN
Looks like it means to filter or examine, but here it completes a compound word — the lotion you apply before going out in the sun.
REQUEST
Connections hint for REQUEST
A polite ask or entreaty — to make a request is to appeal to someone for something.
COUPON
Connections hint for COUPON
The kind you clip from a book — a coupon book full of discounts, not a single paper slip.
Traps and misdirects
CALL sounds like a referee's call, APPEAL like a player appealing a decision, and BID like a competitive bid in a game — they feel like sports or negotiation vocabulary. That reading is a dead end. All three share a completely different connection that has nothing to do with sport or competition.
CHECK suggests verification, MATCH suggests a game or competition, and STAMP suggests an official mark of approval — they feel like they belong in the same bureaucratic or sporting cluster. None of those meanings are what is happening here. These three words belong to different groups and share nothing in this puzzle.
SCREEN looks like it belongs with CHECK and SORT — to screen something is to filter or examine it, which fits a verification cluster perfectly. That reading is wrong here. SCREEN has a compound-word life that has nothing to do with filtering.
DIAL reads as a verb meaning to call someone, which pulls it toward CALL and REQUEST as communication words. That association is a trap. DIAL belongs to a completely different group based on what word can precede it.
Connections Hints for April 28, 2026
Each category is independent. Reveal only what you need.
Yellow — Easiest
See hint
Formal words for asking someone for something
Think: Think: plea, petition, implore
See group name
ENTREATY
See words
Reveal word 1
APPEALReveal word 2
BIDReveal word 3
CALLReveal word 4
REQUESTGreen — Moderate
See hint
Actions you perform on clothes at home, in order
Think: Think: laundry routine steps
See group name
LAUNDRY DAY VERBS
See words
Reveal word 1
DRYReveal word 2
FOLDReveal word 3
SORTReveal word 4
WASHBlue — Hard
See hint
Items sold in a small bound booklet
Think: Think: post office, diner, matchbox
See group name
THINGS THAT COME IN "BOOKS"
See words
Reveal word 1
CHECKReveal word 2
COUPONReveal word 3
MATCHReveal word 4
STAMPPurple — Hardest
See hint
Each word completes a compound word beginning with SUN
Think: Think: SUN plus one more word
See group name
SUN___
See words
Reveal word 1
DIALReveal word 2
FLOWERReveal word 3
SCREENReveal word 4
TANNYT Connections Answers for April 28, 2026
NYT Connections Answers Explained: April 28, 2026
ENTREATY
APPEAL, BID, CALL, and REQUEST all mean a sincere ask or plea directed at someone — each word captures the act of entreating, though their everyday uses often disguise this shared meaning.
- APPEAL
- To appeal to someone is to make an earnest plea — the entreaty sense sits behind the more familiar legal and sporting uses.
- BID
- A bid can be a formal attempt or plea to obtain something — to make a bid for peace is to entreat, not to place an auction price.
- CALL
- A call can be a summons or plea — to call on someone for help is an act of entreaty, separate from phone calls or referee decisions.
- REQUEST
- The most straightforward of the four — a request is simply a polite entreaty, an ask directed at someone with the hope they will comply.
LAUNDRY DAY VERBS
DRY, FOLD, SORT, and WASH are the four core actions of doing laundry — you sort the clothes first, wash them, dry them, then fold them and put them away.
- DRY
- After washing, clothes must be dried — in a tumble dryer, on a line, or on a rack.
- FOLD
- The final active step — folding clean dry laundry into neat shapes before putting it away.
- SORT
- The first step of laundry day — sorting clothes into piles by colour or fabric type before anything goes in the machine.
- WASH
- The central act of laundry — putting clothes through water and detergent to clean them.
THINGS THAT COME IN "BOOKS"
CHECK, COUPON, MATCH, and STAMP all come in small bound booklets — a checkbook, a coupon book, a book of matches, and a book of stamps are all familiar everyday objects.
- CHECK
- Checks come in a checkbook — a small bound pad of paper slips you tear out to make payments.
- COUPON
- Coupons come in coupon books — bound booklets of discount vouchers you tear out and redeem.
- MATCH
- Matches come in a matchbook — a small folded cardboard booklet of paper matches, the kind you find on restaurant counters.
- STAMP
- Stamps come in a book of stamps — a small folded booklet sold at the post office containing a sheet of postage stamps.
SUN___
DIAL, FLOWER, SCREEN, and TAN each complete a compound word when SUN is placed in front — SUNDIAL, SUNFLOWER, SUNSCREEN, and SUNTAN are all familiar compound words built from the same prefix.
- DIAL
- SUNDIAL — an ancient timekeeping device that uses the shadow cast by sunlight on a marked surface to show the time of day.
- FLOWER
- SUNFLOWER — the tall yellow-headed plant whose bloom famously turns to follow the sun across the sky.
- SCREEN
- SUNSCREEN — the lotion or spray applied to skin to block ultraviolet rays from the sun and prevent burning.
- TAN
- SUNTAN — the golden-brown colour skin turns after prolonged exposure to sunlight.
