NYT Connections #1043

Hints, category titles, and full answers for Sunday, April 19, 2026

🧩 April 19, 2026

Connections Hint #1043April 19, 2026

By NYT Connections HintsLast updated:

Connections Walkthrough — April 19, 2026

A breakdown of every category from the April 19, 2026 puzzle, the trap words designed to fool players, and what made it tricky.

Group-by-group breakdown (easiest to hardest)

  1. CHEEKY

    You can group ARCH, FRESH, SASSY, and WISE as playful ways to describe a mouthy attitude.

  2. DRESS MEASUREMENTS

    BUST, HIPS, LENGTH, and WAIST are concrete fitting points, so they cluster cleanly.

  3. CARDS IN TEXAS HOLD 'EM

    FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, and TURN are specific poker terms, especially recognizable together.

  4. LAST WORDS OF CANDY BRANDS IN THE SINGULAR

    After the other sets, check CAP, DUD, KID, and MINT as singular endings of candy names.

The trap words that fool most players

Words placed in this puzzle to make one category look like another.

  • MINTlooks like · CHEEKYactually · LAST WORDS OF CANDY BRANDS IN THE SINGULAR

    It may pull you toward FRESH, but here it finishes Junior Mints in singular form.

  • BUSTlooks like · CARDS IN TEXAS HOLD 'EMactually · DRESS MEASUREMENTS

    Poker players can bust, but this puzzle uses it as a clothing fit measurement.

About this puzzle

This is the complete solution to NYT Connections puzzle #1043, originally published on Sunday, April 19, 2026. The four categories ranged from CHEEKY (the easiest, yellow group) through LAST WORDS OF CANDY BRANDS IN THE SINGULAR (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.