NYT Connections answers and hints for game #1253 on 15 November 2026

Today's answers at a glance

The New York Times released game #1253 of Connections on Sunday, 15 November 2026, and TechRadar has published the full list of answers along with hints for players who wanted a nudge before seeing the solution.

The yellow group, described as unmatched, contained all-time, historic, record and unprecedented. The green group covered wedding website sections: dress code, registry, RSVP and travel.

The blue group asked for words that precede plane: astral, Cartesian, inclined and jet. The purple group, usually the hardest, was words ending in vegetables from the allium family: archive, octonion, rapscallion and sleek, which conceal chive, onion, scallion and leek.

How the puzzle played out

In commentary published with the answers, the TechRadar writer noted that octonion, a type of mathematical object, initially looked like it belonged to a shape-based group. Once no other shapes appeared, the ending in onion became the giveaway.

Spotting chive, leek and scallion hidden in archive, rapscallion and sleek led to a rare purple-first solve. A mistake on the plane group, where record was submitted before inclined, made the run imperfect.

Yesterday's solution for comparison

For players checking back, TechRadar also listed Saturday's answers for game #1252, dated 14 November 2026. The yellow group was cutting-edge terms: advanced, foremost, modern and progressive.

The green group covered locations for an institution: campus, center, complex and facility. Blue was strategy board games: chess, go, Othello and Stratego. Purple was baby gear with the first letter changed: battle, marriage, mottle and trib.

How Connections works

Connections is one of several word games made by the New York Times. Players sort sixteen words into four groups of four that share a common theme, with each group colour-coded by difficulty: green is easiest, then yellow, then blue, with purple usually the hardest.

Players may make up to four mistakes before the game ends, and the final group can be found by elimination. TechRadar cautions that the game likes to mislead with homophones and other wordplay, so apparent links can be traps.

The game 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 puzzles.