NYT Connections answers and hints for game #1252 on 14 November 2026

Today's answers at a glance

The New York Times released a fresh Connections puzzle on Saturday, 14 November 2026, and TechRadar has published the full hints and answers for game #1252. Connections asks players to sort a grid of words into groups that share a hidden link, and each group carries a colour showing how hard it is.

According to TechRadar, the yellow group was cutting-edge, containing advanced, foremost, modern and progressive. The green group covered locations for an institution: campus, center, complex and facility.

The blue group gathered strategy board games: chess, go, othello and stratego. The purple group, usually the hardest, was baby gear with the first letter changed: battle, marriage, mottle and trib.

The purple group explained

The purple category was the puzzle's main trick. Once revealed, it turned out to be baby gear words with their first letters swapped, hiding rattle, carriage, bottle and crib behind battle, marriage, mottle and trib.

TechRadar's writer admitted that even after the group was shown, spotting the original baby items was a struggle. That kind of letter-swap twist is a common way for Connections to catch out confident players.

How the puzzle played out

The writer began by grouping chess, go, othello and stratego, noting that stratego was unfamiliar but the name gave the game away. Othello, by contrast, was a long-time favourite with a simple corner-grabbing approach.

TechRadar described the cutting-edge and institution-location groups as unusually straightforward, making this the one puzzle of the week without traps. Yesterday's game, #1251 on Friday, 13 November 2026, had covered internet browsing words, media attention, towed things and brain phrases.

How Connections works

Connections is one of several word games made by the New York Times, alongside Wordle, Spelling Bee and Strands. Players must find groups of four items with something in common, and each group has a difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often tough and purple usually very difficult.

There is some built-in mercy. The final group can be solved by elimination, and players can make up to four mistakes before the game ends. TechRadar warns that the game is trickier than Wordle, with homophones and other wordplay used to disguise answers.

The puzzle is free to play through the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile. TechRadar also publishes daily help for Strands, Quordle and Wordle for readers who want more word games after finishing.