Another day, another sixteen words that almost make sense. This is our guide to Connections #1,243 for Thursday, November 5, 2026: hints first, categories second, the full solution last.
Our read of the board: sixteen plain words with no obvious giveaways, so expect at least one group that only makes sense once the others are gone. 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.
RAINDROPROSEWHISKERKITTENGIGPEARSPIKENARCISSUSWEDGERUNLOTUSUVULABRANDOANEMONESPEEDBAGPLATFORM
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 K, 3 wordsGreen: starts with F, one wordBlue: starts with T, 2 wordsPurple: starts with L, 5 words
Level 2 · One word from each groupYellow contains KITTENGreen contains LOTUSBlue contains SPEEDBAGPurple contains WHISKER
Level 3 · The category namesYellow category
KINDS OF HEELS
Green category
FLOWERS
Blue category
TEARDROP-SHAPED THINGS
Purple category
LIQUORS WITH LAST LETTERS CHANGED
Today's Connections answers
The full solution to Connections #1,243 is behind the button, yellow to purple. Nothing is shown until you click.
▶ Reveal the answers to Connections #1,243
KINDS OF HEELS
KITTEN, PLATFORM, SPIKE, WEDGE
Yellow · the most straightforward group
FLOWERS
ANEMONE, LOTUS, NARCISSUS, ROSE
Green · usually a step harder
TEARDROP-SHAPED THINGS
PEAR, RAINDROP, SPEEDBAG, UVULA
Blue · where the red herrings start to bite
LIQUORS WITH LAST LETTERS CHANGED
BRANDO, GIG, RUN, WHISKER
Purple · the trickiest, often wordplay
Yesterday's Connections
Connections #1,242 on Wednesday, November 4 had these four groups (our full write-up is still up):
TRIANGULAR PRISMS WITH A SHARP EDGEDOORSTOP, FLATIRON BUILDING, PIE SLICE, WEDGE
WORDS AFTER "DO NOT" ON A CARE LABELBLEACH, IRON, TUMBLE DRY, WRING
MOVE IDLY, WITH "AROUND"LOLL, POKE, PUTTER, SHUFFLE
FIRE___CRACKER, FLY, WOOD, WORKS
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.
That is Thursday's board. If purple got you, you are in good company; see you tomorrow for #1,244.