Spoiler warning: This guide gives the hints first and the complete answers for NYT Connections puzzle #1027, dated Friday, April 3, 2026. Stop before the answer section if you still want to solve it yourself.
The puzzle’s most approachable group is the set of words describing spiteful or unkind behavior. The trickier groups involve expressions of desire, cocktail-glass terminology, and phrases completed by control.
Today’s Connections words
Here are the 16 words in Friday’s grid:
- PETTY
- CRUISE
- LONG
- ZOMBIE
- HURRICANE
- JONES
- GROUND
- COLLINS
- MISSION
- SMALL
- LUST
- SNIDE
- MEAN
- THIRST
- DAMAGE
- ROCKS
Connections asks players to divide all 16 words into four groups of four. The groups are traditionally ranked from yellow, the most accessible, through green and blue to purple, which usually relies on wordplay or a less obvious connection.
The puzzle is released at midnight in the relevant local time zone, so the date it appears can differ for readers in different locations. The word list and answers below refer specifically to game #1027, dated Friday, April 3, 2026. See TechRadar’s report on the puzzle for the independently reproduced grid and solution details.
#1 Best Overall
Hints for Connections #1027
These clues are arranged from broadest to more revealing. They do not give away the full groups immediately.
- Yellow: Salty, malicious putdowns.
- Green: An intense desire for something.
- Blue: Types of beverage receptacles.
- Purple: Add the same word meaning authority or influence.
One word from each group
If the broad hints are not quite enough, here is one confirmed member from each category:
- Yellow: SNIDE
- Green: THIRST
- Blue: COLLINS
- Purple: GROUND
At this point, the yellow group is likely the easiest to complete. The green group depends on recognizing several ways to express wanting something, while the blue and purple groups are more vulnerable to misleading associations.
Rank #2
Spoilers: NYT Connections #1027 answers
The complete solutions are below.
Yellow: CATTY
MEAN, PETTY, SMALL, SNIDE
These words can describe spiteful, shallow, or unkind remarks and behavior. The category label is catty; the four entries are related descriptions rather than synonyms that must all be used in exactly the same grammatical way.
Green: HANKER (FOR)
JONES, LONG, LUST, THIRST
Each word can express an intense desire when paired with the appropriate construction: to jones for something, long for something, lust for something, or thirst for something. The shared idea is wanting something strongly, rather than simply liking or noticing it.
Blue: COCKTAIL GLASSES
COLLINS, HURRICANE, ROCKS, ZOMBIE
These are names associated with cocktail-glass styles or serving vessels. A Collins glass is tall and narrow; a Hurricane glass has a distinctive curved silhouette; a rocks glass is the short tumbler commonly used for drinks served over ice; and a Zombie glass is a tall vessel associated with the Zombie cocktail.
Rank #3
This group is designed to create red herrings: Collins, Hurricane, and Zombie are also familiar cocktail names, while rocks can look like an ordinary noun rather than a piece of barware terminology.
Purple: ___ CONTROL
CRUISE, DAMAGE, GROUND, MISSION
Each entry forms a recognized phrase with control:
- cruise control
- damage control
- ground control
- mission control
This is the wordplay-heavy group. The shared word is placed after each grid entry, rather than being a direct semantic category such as “things that express desire.”
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Why this puzzle can be misleading
The cleanest starting point is the yellow group: MEAN, PETTY, SMALL, and SNIDE all suggest unkind, spiteful, or shallow behavior. Removing those words leaves a grid with several tempting cross-connections.
Rank #4
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The green group is grammatical as much as semantic. JONES, LONG, LUST, and THIRST can all be used with for to describe strong desire. The words do not look alike, so the connection becomes clearer when they are tested in phrases rather than treated as simple synonyms.
The blue group asks for specialized vocabulary. The four remaining drink-related terms are not cocktail recipes; they point to types of glasses. That distinction helps separate them from the purple group, where CRUISE, DAMAGE, GROUND, and MISSION combine with control.
One published solver’s assessment called this particular grid “Easy,” but that is a subjective editorial judgment, not an official New York Times difficulty rating. Your experience may depend on how familiar you are with cocktail-glass names and phrase-completion categories.
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Disclosure: If you enjoy the format and want an offline option, The New York Times Games: Puzzle Mania! is a 224-page hardcover collection containing physical versions of several NYT Games, including an analog version of Connections. It is a related puzzle book—not a reproduction of Connections #1027.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the answer to NYT Connections #1027 for April 3, 2026?
The four groups are CATTY (MEAN, PETTY, SMALL, SNIDE); HANKER (FOR) (JONES, LONG, LUST, THIRST); COCKTAIL GLASSES (COLLINS, HURRICANE, ROCKS, ZOMBIE); and ___ CONTROL (CRUISE, DAMAGE, GROUND, MISSION).
What are the blue answers in Connections #1027?
The blue group is COCKTAIL GLASSES: COLLINS, HURRICANE, ROCKS, and ZOMBIE.
What are the purple answers in Connections #1027?
The purple group is ___ CONTROL: CRUISE CONTROL, DAMAGE CONTROL, GROUND CONTROL, and MISSION CONTROL.
When was NYT Connections puzzle #1027 released?
Puzzle #1027 is dated Friday, April 3, 2026. The game becomes available at midnight in the relevant local time zone, so release timing can vary by location.
The Bottom Line
For Friday’s puzzle, start with MEAN, PETTY, SMALL, SNIDE for CATTY. Then look for words expressing desire, cocktail-glass names, and phrases completed by control. The full groups are CATTY, HANKER (FOR), COCKTAIL GLASSES, and ___ CONTROL.
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