Here is everything you need for Connections #1,245, the puzzle for Saturday, November 7, 2026. Start with the board, move through the hints, and open the solution only when you must.
Our read of the board: 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.
POLOEASTERNEWCLONERHODERINGERSOONTREASUREHENLEYBOUNTYNORTHCANESPOILSSOUTHRAGLANBOOTY
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 P, 2 wordsGreen: starts with K, 3 wordsBlue: starts with F, 7 wordsPurple: starts with E, 4 words
Level 2 · One word from each groupYellow contains BOOTYGreen contains POLOBlue contains RHODEPurple contains SOON
Level 3 · The category namesYellow category
PIRATE'S PLUNDER
Green category
KINDS OF SHIRTS
Blue category
FIRST WORDS OF U.S. STATE NAMES
Purple category
ENDS OF STORM TYPES
Today's Connections answers
The full solution to Connections #1,245 is behind the button, yellow to purple. Nothing is shown until you click.
▶ Reveal the answers to Connections #1,245
PIRATE'S PLUNDER
BOOTY, BOUNTY, SPOILS, TREASURE
Yellow · the most straightforward group
KINDS OF SHIRTS
HENLEY, POLO, RAGLAN, RINGER
Green · usually a step harder
FIRST WORDS OF U.S. STATE NAMES
NEW, NORTH, RHODE, SOUTH
Blue · where the red herrings start to bite
ENDS OF STORM TYPES
CANE, CLONE, EASTER, SOON
Purple · the trickiest, often wordplay
Yesterday's Connections
Connections #1,244 on Friday, November 6 had these four groups (our full write-up is still up):
COMPOSITIONCONSTITUTION, FABRIC, MAKEUP, STRUCTURE
COPYBACKUP, EXTRA, REPLACEMENT, SPARE
KINDS OF TRUCKSFLATBED, PICKUP, SEMI, TANKER
ENDING IN PARTS OF THE EYEHOT ROD, OSIRIS, TRAFFIC CONE, WOOLENS
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.
Connections resets at midnight in your local time zone. We will be back tomorrow with the hints for #1,246.