NYT Connections #1046
Hints, category titles, and full answers for Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Connections Hint #1046 — April 22, 2026
Connections Walkthrough — April 22, 2026
A breakdown of every category from the April 22, 2026 puzzle, the trap words designed to fool players, and what made it tricky.
Group-by-group breakdown (easiest to hardest)
- POTTERY EQUIPMENT
You can spot the ceramics studio set quickly: CLAY, GLAZE, KILN, and WHEEL belong together.
- WALLOP
After the studio words, DECK, PUNCH, SLUG, and SOCK all work as forceful verbs.
- PICK-UP ___
You can test ARTIST, GAME, STICKS, and TRUCK by placing each after pick-up.
- WORDS PRONOUNCED DIFFERENT WAYS AS PROPER NOUNS
The remaining words shift pronunciation when treated as place or personal names.
The trap words that fool most players
Words placed in this puzzle to make one category look like another.
- POLISHlooks like · POTTERY EQUIPMENTactually · WORDS PRONOUNCED DIFFERENT WAYS AS PROPER NOUNS
You might associate it with finishing ceramics, but the capitalized nationality changes the pronunciation.
- STICKSlooks like · WALLOPactually · PICK-UP ___
You might picture hitting with them, but it completes the familiar phrase with pick-up.
What makes this puzzle clever
Several entries are ordinary words until capitalization or a prefix phrase changes how you read them.
About this puzzle
This is the complete solution to NYT Connections puzzle #1046, originally published on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. The four categories ranged from POTTERY EQUIPMENT (the easiest, yellow group) through PICK-UP ___ (the trickiest, purple group, which usually involves wordplay or hidden patterns).
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