NYT Connections Hints : It’s Wednesday, April 22, 2026, and we find ourselves deep in the trenches of the week. Whether you’re solving over your first cup of coffee or sneaking a quick break between meetings, today’s grid offers a refreshing mental stretch. With a difficulty rating of 2.3 out of 5, it’s a relatively smooth ride, though a few “red herrings” might try to trip you up if you aren’t paying attention.
The beauty of today’s puzzle lies in its balance. While the yellow and green categories feel grounded in everyday life, the blue and purple sets require a bit of creative lateral thinking. If you’re feeling stuck, remember: sometimes the most obvious connection isn’t the right one. Take a deep breath, reset your perspective, and look for those subtle linguistic overlaps that the editors love to hide.
Hints for Today’s Categories
If you’re looking for a nudge without the full reveal, here is a breakdown of what to look for in Puzzle No. 1,046:
- Yellow Category: Think about physical actions or ways to show support.
- Green Category: These words all relate to a specific type of professional or creative environment.
- Blue Category: Look for a common thread involving measurement or standard scales.
- Purple Category: This is a classic “Words that follow…” or “Words that precede…” a specific term. Think about a common four-legged creature.
The Editor’s Corner: Strategic Solving
Our testers found that today’s difficulty stems from words that could easily fit into two different camps. For instance, you might see a word that looks like a “measurement” but actually belongs in the “creative environment” group. My advice? Try to group the most specific words first. The more general a word is (like “STRIKE” or “LEAD”), the more likely it is to be a decoy meant to lead you astray.
Don’t forget to head over to the Connections Bot after your solve for a personalized breakdown of your performance. It’s a great way to see if your logic matched the intended path or if you happened to stumble into the right answer by sheer luck (we’ve all been there!).
Community & Conversation
How did you fare today? Was the 2.3 rating accurate for you, or did this one feel like a 4.0? Post your grid results in the comments below! We love seeing the variety of paths people take to reach the same conclusion. Let’s keep the spoilers polite—use the “spoilers” tag if you’re giving away the final answers so everyone can enjoy the hunTags: