The conserved centromere protein C (CENP-C) is indispensable for kinetochore function. Yet its mechanism of action has remained elusive. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Tanaka et al. report that the fission yeast homolog, Cnp3, acts as a linker protein that fulfills a variety of different roles in the bi- and mono-orientation of chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis I.