When I saw the first clue, Diplomacy, my mind immediately went to "Politics" or "International Relations." It’s such a heavy, professional word that it feels like the puzzle might be about government or soft power. I almost wanted to guess "Negotiation," but in Pinpoint, the first clue is often a "trap" clue that has a very common double meaning, so I held back.

Then came Trouble. This actually made things more confusing at first. If you combine Diplomacy and Trouble, you might think of "War" or "Conflict Resolution." My first instinct was that maybe the category was "International Incidents." I was tempted to type in "Problems," but that felt too vague for a world-class puzzle.

The real "Aha!" moment happened with the third clue: Ticket to Ride. Suddenly, the context shifted. While "Ticket to Ride" is a Beatles song, it is also a incredibly popular modern board game about building train routes. I looked back at the first two clues through this new lens. "Diplomacy" is a famous high-stakes strategy game, and "Trouble" is that classic kids' game with the "Pop-O-Matic" dice bubble.

By the time Monopoly appeared as the fourth clue, the mystery was completely gone. Monopoly is arguably the most recognizable board game brand in the world. It bridged the gap between the older strategy games and the family-friendly classics.

Finally, Scrabble was the victory lap. Once you have a word-building game, a property-trading game, and a train-routing game all in one list, there is no doubt left. The connection isn't just that these are "games," but specifically that they are "Board games" played on a physical or digital surface with set rules and pieces.