When I first saw "New York City," my mind immediately went to broad categories. I thought the answer might be "World Capitals" or perhaps "Famous Landmarks." I even briefly considered "Boroughs," but that seemed a bit too specific for a first clue. It’s easy to get lost in the bright lights of Manhattan when you start there, so I decided to hold off on a guess until the second clue appeared.

Then came "Beehives." This changed the trajectory completely. NYC and Beehives don't have much in common at first glance, but then I remembered the biological structure of a hive. A beehive has a Queen. I looked back at the first clue—is there a "Queen" in NYC? Yes, the borough of Queens. Suddenly, a pattern started to emerge. I suspected the answer was "Queens," but I wanted to be sure it wasn't something more complex like "Royal Titles."

The third clue, "Playing cards," was the "Aha!" moment. In a deck of cards, you have the Jack, the King, and the Queen. Since the previous two clues also shared the "Queen" connection, I was about 90% certain of the theme. I didn't want to burn a guess on a pluralization error (is it "Queen" or "Queens"?), so I waited for one more hint to see if the plural stayed consistent.

"Chess sets" confirmed the plural "Queens" for me. While you start with one Queen in chess, the game itself "contains" Queens for both players. Finally, the "LinkedIn Games" clue was the ultimate meta-nod. If you look at your LinkedIn game dashboard, right next to Pinpoint is the game literally titled "Queens."

By the time I reached the final clue, the connection was undeniable. We were looking for things that house, feature, or are named "Queens." It’s a great example of how Pinpoint moves from geography to biology to leisure, all tied together by a single five-letter word.