NYT Connections #1053
Hints, category titles, and full answers for Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Connections Hint #1053 — April 29, 2026
Connections Walkthrough — April 29, 2026
A breakdown of every category from the April 29, 2026 puzzle, the trap words designed to fool players, and what made it tricky.
Group-by-group breakdown (easiest to hardest)
- SOUND LIKE THUNDER
You can spot BOOM, CLAP, ROLL, and RUMBLE as noises often heard during storms.
- KINDS OF PUPPETS
HAND, SHADOW, SOCK, and STRING all name familiar low-tech theater figures.
- STEP IN A PROCESS
LEVEL, PHASE, ROUND, and STAGE all mark where you are in a sequence.
- STANDING ___
After the direct meanings fade, test JOKE, ORDERS, OVATION, and ROOM after the same preceding word.
The trap words that fool most players
Words placed in this puzzle to make one category look like another.
- CLAPlooks like · KINDS OF PUPPETSactually · SOUND LIKE THUNDER
You might see HAND nearby and think of a hand clap, but CLAP is grouped by storm noise.
- OVATIONlooks like · SOUND LIKE THUNDERactually · STANDING ___
An ovation can be loud like thunder, but here it completes a phrase after the shared lead-in.
- STAGElooks like · KINDS OF PUPPETSactually · STEP IN A PROCESS
Puppets perform on one, but STAGE is used here as a point in a progression.
About this puzzle
This is the complete solution to NYT Connections puzzle #1053, originally published on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. The four categories ranged from STEP IN A PROCESS (the easiest, yellow group) through STANDING ___ (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.