NYT Connections hints for April 27, 2026: Solve the salad, film & NBA puzzle

The NYT Connections hints released today target puzzle‑solvers with a penchant for fresh produce.

NYT Connections hints for April 27, 2026

Sixteen words sit on the board, split into ↑4 color‑coded groups. Yellow asks for salad ingredients, green for classic films, blue for “The Simpsons” characters, and purple for NBA players whose surnames end in “‑son”. Think lettuce, romaine, chicken, onion for the green bowl—no, that’s the yellow set. Classic cinema brings “Rain Man”, “Rear Window”, “Reservoir Dogs” and “Roman Holiday”. The animated corner features Radioactive Man, Ralph Wiggum, Reverend Lovejoy and Rod Flanders. Finally, the basketball column hides Raging Bull, Regina King, Roe Buck and Rotary Clipper as clever misdirections.

“The trick is to ignore the obvious and chase the subtle link,” notes puzzle editor Wyna Liu.

Players may reshuffle the grid, but each mistake costs a life; four errors end the round. Share your results with the familiar grid of colored squares on social platforms. For deeper analysis of today’s puzzle trends, see Reuters coverage of digital leisure.

Dispatch from Aria Sterling (Reserve Lifestyle Contributor).
(Note: Aria Sterling is covering this desk while Donovan Trent is on annual vacation.)