NYT Connections #1040
Hints, category titles, and full answers for Thursday, April 16, 2026
Connections Hint #1040 — April 16, 2026
Connections Walkthrough — April 16, 2026
A breakdown of every category from the April 16, 2026 puzzle, the trap words designed to fool players, and what made it tricky.
Group-by-group breakdown (easiest to hardest)
- THERMOSTAT SETTINGS
You can group AUTO, COOL, FAN, and HEAT as labels seen together on one wall device.
- FEATURES OF A CATWOMAN COSTUME
BODYSUIT, CLAWS, MASK, and WHIP point to one specific comic-book look.
- TEASE
Once temperature words are gone, NEEDLE, RIB, RIDE, and ROAST share a joking social action.
- TRAINING ___
The leftovers become clear when you put TRAINING before each: BRA, CAMP, DAY, and WHEELS.
The trap words that fool most players
Words placed in this puzzle to make one category look like another.
- ROASTlooks like · THERMOSTAT SETTINGSactually · TEASE
You might connect ROAST to heat, but here it means giving someone a joking hard time.
- BRAlooks like · FEATURES OF A CATWOMAN COSTUMEactually · TRAINING ___
It could seem like costume wear, but it completes a common phrase after TRAINING.
- RIDElooks like · TRAINING ___actually · TEASE
A training ride is plausible in cycling, but this one means jokingly hassling someone.
About this puzzle
This is the complete solution to NYT Connections puzzle #1040, originally published on Thursday, April 16, 2026. The four categories ranged from TEASE (the easiest, yellow group) through TRAINING ___ (the trickiest, purple group, which usually involves wordplay or hidden patterns).
You can browse our complete Connections archive for every past puzzle since the game launched in June 2023, or jump to today's puzzle for the latest hints.