Sixteen words, four groups, four mistakes allowed. Here is our companion to Connections #1,247 for Monday, November 9, 2026, with the hints in order from gentle to giveaway.
Our read of the board: 12 tiles are phrases rather than single words; two of the category names are long, which tends to mean a specific, lateral theme. As always, the purple group is the one built to mislead; if you see an obvious category of five or six words, that is the trap.
Today's board
The sixteen words, in the order they appear on the board. No spoilers here.
STEAK KNIFECARD SHARKCON JOBBOOTCUTNAVY SEALSHELL GAMEMINT LEAFGAMMA RAYTAPE DISPENSERLOW-RISEFUN SPONGERIP-OFFSKINNYFLIMFLAMGRAPEFRUIT SPOONDISTRESSED
Hints for today's Connections
Three levels of help. Level one nudges, level two points, level three names the categories one at a time.
Level 1 · The categories, by first letterYellow: starts with D, 2 wordsGreen: starts with J, 2 wordsBlue: starts with T, 4 wordsPurple: starts with E, 4 words
Level 2 · One word from each groupYellow contains CON JOBGreen contains DISTRESSEDBlue contains STEAK KNIFEPurple contains NAVY SEAL
Level 3 · The category namesYellow category
DECEITFUL SCHEME
Green category
JEANS DESCRIPTORS
Blue category
THINGS WITH SERRATED EDGES
Purple category
ENDING IN SEA CREATURES
Today's Connections answers
The full solution to Connections #1,247 is behind the button, yellow to purple. Nothing is shown until you click.
▶ Reveal the answers to Connections #1,247
DECEITFUL SCHEME
CON JOB, FLIMFLAM, RIP-OFF, SHELL GAME
Yellow · the most straightforward group
JEANS DESCRIPTORS
BOOTCUT, DISTRESSED, LOW-RISE, SKINNY
Green · usually a step harder
THINGS WITH SERRATED EDGES
GRAPEFRUIT SPOON, MINT LEAF, STEAK KNIFE, TAPE DISPENSER
Blue · where the red herrings start to bite
ENDING IN SEA CREATURES
CARD SHARK, FUN SPONGE, GAMMA RAY, NAVY SEAL
Purple · the trickiest, often wordplay
Yesterday's Connections
Connections #1,246 on Sunday, November 8 had these four groups (our full write-up is still up):
MUSCULARBUILT, CUT, JACKED, RIPPED
HAIR SALON SERVICESBLOWOUT, COLOR, EXTENSIONS, TRIM
THINGS THAT HELP MAKE SENSE OF A SITUATIONCLARITY, CONTEXT, INSIGHT, PERSPECTIVE
VEGETABLE HOMOPHONESCARAT, CHARRED, KORN, LEAK
How Connections works
Sixteen words hide four groups of four that share something in common. Pick four, submit, and the row locks in if you are right; four wrong submissions end the game. The groups are colour-coded by difficulty, yellow being the most direct and purple the most devious, and most boards include at least one word that could plausibly sit in two groups. Today's puzzle was edited by Wyna Liu at The New York Times.
A reliable habit: before submitting anything, find the five or six words that seem to belong to one obvious category and work out which of them is the imposter. Solving the strange group first is often easier than solving the obvious one.
Come back tomorrow for Connections #1,248, and find today's Wordle and the rest of the Puzzles desk in the section menu.