LinkedIn Pinpoint 871 Answer & Analysis
Pinpoint Answer
Editorially verified for the Sep 18, 2026
Words & how they fit
Each clue and why it belongs in the category
- Sandy Desert
Great Sandy Desert
A large Australian desert in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
- Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake
A large saltwater lake in Utah.
- Rift Valley
Great Rift Valley
A major geological depression running through eastern Africa.
- Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
The vast coral reef system off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
- Britain: England+Scotland+Wales
Great Britain
The island containing England, Scotland, and Wales.
| Word | Connection | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Sandy Desert | Great Sandy Desert | A large Australian desert in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. |
| Salt Lake | Great Salt Lake | A large saltwater lake in Utah. |
| Rift Valley | Great Rift Valley | A major geological depression running through eastern Africa. |
| Barrier Reef | Great Barrier Reef | The vast coral reef system off the coast of Queensland, Australia. |
| Britain: England+Scotland+Wales | Great Britain | The island containing England, Scotland, and Wales. |
How to Solve it
A step-by-step walkthrough of this puzzle
- 1
Landform List 🗺️
The opening clues look like generic geographic features. Sandy Desert, Salt Lake, and Rift Valley can all describe physical locations, so a landform-based category seems plausible.
- 2
Barrier Reef Shift 🪸
Barrier Reef points to the proper name Great Barrier Reef, not just a type of reef. The same word, Great, also forms Great Sandy Desert, Great Salt Lake, and Great Rift Valley.
- 3
Britain Confirms It 🇬🇧
Britain supplies the final proof through Great Britain. England, Scotland, and Wales make up that geographic name, matching the shared prefix across all five clues.
Geographic place names preceded by “Great”.
Recent Pinpoint Answers
The last 7 days of solutions
What connects Sandy Desert, Salt Lake, Rift Valley, Barrier Reef and Britain: England+Scotland+Wales? That's Pinpoint #871, the LinkedIn puzzle from Friday, September 18th, 2026. Tap any clue above to open a nudge for that word, read the final hint if you want one more push, then reveal the category. Below the answer there's a full walkthrough: the wrong turn these clues invite, the clue that breaks it open, and what each word actually pairs with.
What connects Sandy Desert, Salt Lake, Rift Valley, Barrier Reef and Britain: England+Scotland+Wales?
The answer to Pinpoint #871 is Geographic place names when preceded by “Great”. Every clue in the set — Sandy Desert, Salt Lake, Rift Valley, Barrier Reef and Britain: England+Scotland+Wales — belongs to “Geographic place names when preceded by “Great””, which is the thread you're looking for.
If you got there in one or two clues, the giveaway was almost certainly Sandy Desert paired with Salt Lake — that combination rules out most of the categories a single word could belong to. The clue-by-clue breakdown above the fold shows exactly where each word lands.
How Pinpoint works
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Goal | Guess the category that connects all five clue words (for example, “Apple, Dell, Acer, HP” → computer brands). |
| Clues reveal one at a time | You start with one word and get another after each wrong guess, up to five — the fewer you need, the better your score. |
| Guesses | Type the category; the game tells you if you're right. You have a limited number of tries. |
| Reset | A new Pinpoint puzzle drops every day at midnight Pacific Time (3:00 a.m. Eastern). |
Solving a clue set like this one
- Put the first two clues side by side before guessing anything. Sandy Desert on its own fits a dozen categories; Sandy Desert plus Salt Lake usually fits one or two.
- If your first theory dies on clue three, don't patch it — throw it out. A theory that needs an exception for one clue is the wrong theory.
- Check for a shared word before you check for a shared topic. Pinpoint loves sets where every clue sits in front of (or behind) the same hidden word.
- Say each clue out loud. Homophones and phrases hide in plain sight when you only read them.
How Pinpoint scoring works
You see one clue to start and earn another after every wrong guess, up to five. Solving on clue one is the best possible result and solving on clue five still counts as a win, so there's no reason to rush a guess you're not confident in — a wrong answer costs you a clue you can't get back.
Other Pinpoint clue sets
Every Pinpoint puzzle has its own page here, filed under its clue words. Use the calendar above to jump to another day, or open the main Pinpoint answers page for the current puzzle.
Frequently asked questions
What connects Sandy Desert, Salt Lake, Rift Valley, Barrier Reef and Britain: England+Scotland+Wales?
They're all “Geographic place names when preceded by “Great”” — the answer to Pinpoint #871 from Friday, September 18th, 2026.
What was the Pinpoint #871 answer?
Geographic place names when preceded by “Great”. The walkthrough under the answer explains why each of the five clues fits.
Why is Sandy Desert a clue for Geographic place names when preceded by “Great”?
The clue-by-clue table above gives the exact pairing for Sandy Desert, along with the other four clues in the set.
How do I see today's Pinpoint answer instead?
Open the main LinkedIn Pinpoint answers page — it always shows the current day's clues, hints, and answer, plus a countdown to the next puzzle.