What is the NYT Connections answer for April 17 (#1041)?

The four groups are VEGETABLE PARTS (BULB, LEAF, ROOT, STEM); PREVAILING (COMMON, DOMINANT, GENERAL, POPULAR); PARTS OF A PIANO (HAMMER, KEY, PEDAL, STRING); SECOND HALVES OF DRINK NAMES (SODA, STORMY, TAN, TONIC).

Which Connections group is hardest today?

The purple group — "SECOND HALVES OF DRINK NAMES" — is the trickiest, as it usually relies on wordplay or a hidden connection rather than a straightforward category.

What do the Connections colors mean?

Yellow is the easiest group, then green, then blue, and purple is the hardest — often involving wordplay or a hidden twist.

Friday, April 17, 2026#1041

NYT Connections Hints & Answer — Friday, April 17

DailyWordHints Editorial April 17

VEGETABLE PARTS

Easiest

PREVAILING

Easy

PARTS OF A PIANO

Tricky

SECOND HALVES OF DRINK NAMES

Hardest

Today's NYT Connections groups are VEGETABLE PARTS (yellow), PREVAILING (green), PARTS OF A PIANO (blue), SECOND HALVES OF DRINK NAMES (purple).

DOMINANT

KEY

ROOT

TAN

TONIC

STEM

HAMMER

GENERAL

BULB

SODA

COMMON

STRING

STORMY

LEAF

PEDAL

POPULAR

Hints by group

yellowEasiest

greenEasy

blueTricky

purpleHardest

Full answers below

Today’s answers

yellowEasiest

greenEasy

blueTricky

purpleHardest

See all past Connections puzzles →

Today's Connections hints (no answers yet)

Here are spoiler-free nudges for NYT Connections #1041, Friday, April 17. Reveal one color at a time and work from the easiest group (yellow) to the trickiest (purple).

How to use these hints

Each clue is written so it never names any of the sixteen words — it just points you in the right direction. Open the full answer only once you're truly stuck.

Strategy for solving today's grid

Lock in the group you're most confident about first to shrink the board, but resist the obvious four-of-a-kind — the puzzle almost always plants a word that fits two themes. Save the purple group for last; it usually hides the wordplay twist.

Frequently asked questions

What is the NYT Connections answer for April 17 (#1041)?: The four groups are VEGETABLE PARTS (BULB, LEAF, ROOT, STEM); PREVAILING (COMMON, DOMINANT, GENERAL, POPULAR); PARTS OF A PIANO (HAMMER, KEY, PEDAL, STRING); SECOND HALVES OF DRINK NAMES (SODA, STORMY, TAN, TONIC).
Which Connections group is hardest today?: The purple group — "SECOND HALVES OF DRINK NAMES" — is the trickiest, as it usually relies on wordplay or a hidden connection rather than a straightforward category.
What do the Connections colors mean?: Yellow is the easiest group, then green, then blue, and purple is the hardest — often involving wordplay or a hidden twist.