NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, April 28 (game #1052)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, April 27 (game #1051).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1052) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CALL
• TAN
• DRY
• FLOWER
• CHECK
• DIAL
• FOLD
• BID
• MATCH
• SORT
• STAMP
• APPEAL
• WASH
• SCREEN
• REQUEST
• COUPON

NYT Connections today (game #1052) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Plea deal
• GREEN: Things you do to clothes
• BLUE: They share a format with fiction
• PURPLE: Begin with a short bright word

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1052) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: ENTREATY
• GREEN: LAUNDRY DAY VERBS
• BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN "BOOKS"
• PURPLE: SUN_____ 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1052) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1052, are…

• YELLOW: ENTREATY APPEAL, BID, CALL, REQUEST
• GREEN: LAUNDRY DAY VERBS DRY, FOLD, SORT, WASH
• BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN "BOOKS" CHECK, COUPON, MATCH, STAMP
• PURPLE: SUN_____ DIAL, FLOWER, SCREEN, TAN

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

While I was thrilled to complete this game it was one that came with regret as I only saw the purple/hardest group of four words that begin SUN_____ with just eight tiles left — and there is no glory in that.

Initially I came close to selecting a group that was about collecting flowers, but beyond DRY it all felt too vague and fortunately I submitted the far more likely group of LAUNDRY DAY VERBS.

I was stumped by THINGS THAT COME IN “BOOKS” and I think that’s down to a mixture of cultural differences — COUPON books are not really a thing in the UK — and redundant objects in the form of MATCH books and CHECK books, both of which I have not seen for nearly a decade.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, April 27, game #1051)

• YELLOW: SALAD INGREDIENTS RANCH DRESSING, RED ONION, ROASTED CHICKEN, ROMAINE LETTUCE
• GREEN: CLASSIC FILMS RAIN MAN, REAR WINDOW, RESERVOIR DOGS, ROMAN HOLIDAY
• BLUE: "THE SIMPSONS" CHARACTERS RADIOACTIVE MAN, RALPH WIGGUM, REVEREND LOVEJOY, ROD FLANDERS
• PURPLE: ENDING IN NBA PLAYERS RAGING BULL, REGINA KING, ROE BUCK, ROTARY CLIPPER

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.