A little help. Your own aha.

Connections #1253
hints & answers for November 15, 2026

Keep the satisfaction of the solve. Get a nudge for one group, reveal a category, or check the answers at your own pace.

This reference always shows November 15, 2026. It is released in at least one timezone; every answer stays closed until you reveal it.

Which group has you stuck?

Pick a colour. Reveal one step at a time.

Yellow group

Straightforward

1/4
First-letter clue

Look for four entries beginning with A, H, R and U. These initials are in sorted order.

Show one word

ALL-TIME belongs in this group.

Reveal the category

UNMATCHED

Reveal all four words
  • ALL-TIME
  • HISTORIC
  • RECORD
  • UNPRECEDENTED

Green group

A little trickier

2/4
First-letter clue

Look for four entries beginning with D, R, R and T. These initials are in sorted order.

Show one word

DRESS CODE belongs in this group.

Reveal the category

WEDDING WEBSITE SECTIONS

Reveal all four words
  • DRESS CODE
  • REGISTRY
  • RSVP
  • TRAVEL

Blue group

More challenging

3/4
Wordplay hint

Try adding the same ending to each entry.

Show one word

ASTRAL belongs in this group.

Reveal the category

___ PLANE

Reveal all four words
  • ASTRAL
  • CARTESIAN
  • INCLINED
  • JET

Each entry comes before "PLANE" to form a word, expression or name: ASTRAL → ASTRAL PLANE; CARTESIAN → CARTESIAN PLANE; INCLINED → INCLINED PLANE; JET → JET PLANE.

Purple group

Wordplay & surprises

4/4
First-letter clue

Look for four entries beginning with A, O, R and S. These initials are in sorted order.

Show one word

ARCHIVE belongs in this group.

Reveal the category

ENDING IN VEGETABLES IN THE ALLIUM FAMILY

Reveal all four words
  • ARCHIVE
  • OCTONION
  • RAPSCALLION
  • SLEEK
Show categories only
  • Yellow: UNMATCHED
  • Green: WEDDING WEBSITE SECTIONS
  • Blue: ___ PLANE
  • Purple: ENDING IN VEGETABLES IN THE ALLIUM FAMILY

Ready for the full solution?

All four categories and their words, together.

Reveal all four answers

Yellow

UNMATCHED

ALL-TIME · HISTORIC · RECORD · UNPRECEDENTED

Green

WEDDING WEBSITE SECTIONS

DRESS CODE · REGISTRY · RSVP · TRAVEL

Blue

___ PLANE

ASTRAL · CARTESIAN · INCLINED · JET

Purple

ENDING IN VEGETABLES IN THE ALLIUM FAMILY

ARCHIVE · OCTONION · RAPSCALLION · SLEEK

Other spelling matches on this board

No alternative four-entry spelling match was found by the anagram, palindrome, shared-start and shared-ending checks. Semantic overlaps may exist; these checks do not assess them.

These are checked spelling comparisons, not claims about the editor's intent or the most common player mistakes.

This puzzle’s recorded solution

The date and puzzle number identify this exact board. Use the individual group controls to compare its recorded categories and words, then return to the archive to find another puzzle.

About the answers and hints

Categories and answers follow the recorded NYT puzzle. Our hints are independent: some are original category clues, while others give the first letters of the four words. Each hint is labelled so you can choose how much help to take.

Group colours follow the puzzle’s yellow, green, blue and purple order, from the most straightforward to the trickiest. Your own experience may differ. The reference tiles may appear in a different order from your game. Picture puzzles have separately hidden descriptions, since a description can give away the wordplay.

The daily page starts with the UTC puzzle date and, with JavaScript enabled, checks the puzzle for your local time zone. Every reveal starts closed when the date changes. Play Connections at The New York Times or contact us about a correction.