Today’s puzzle has four hidden categories, and a few of them reward players who look past the obvious meaning of a word.
Some words seem to fit more than one group, so the right grouping can be hard to spot at first.
Use the hints below first, and check the full answers only when you’re ready for spoilers.
The New York Times Connections puzzle for November 15, 2026, challenges players to sort 16 words into four groups of four, with each category sharing a hidden connection. Today's puzzle features slang terms for being muscular, hair salon services, words associated with understanding a situation, and vegetable homophones.
Some words may appear to fit more than one category, making the puzzle trickier than it initially seems. Players will need to look beyond their obvious meanings and identify the wordplay linking each group before making their selections.
Jet
Sleek
Registry
Historic
Cartesian
Rsvp
Octonion
All-Time
Travel
Inclined
Record
Archive
Dress Code
Astral
Unprecedented
Rapscallion
Use these clues for a nudge without seeing the answers:
Yellow group – Best ever
Green group – For the guests at your big event
Blue group – Place these words before a single word (hint: think of the big travel news this Friday in the US)
Purple group – Look for veggies
If you need a bigger push, here is one word from each category:
One Word for Each Connections Group:
Yellow group – Record
Green group – RSVP
Blue group – Astral
Purple group – Sleek
Yellow Group – Unmatched
Green Group – Wedding Website Sections
Blue Group – ____ Plane
Purple Group – Ending In Vegetables In The Allium Family
Yellow Group – All-Time, Historic, Record, Unprecedented
Green Group – Dress Code, Registry, Rsvp, Travel
Blue Group – Astral, Cartesian, Inclined, Jet
Purple Group – Archive, Octonion, Rapscallion, Sleek
Today's NYT Connections puzzle combines familiar expressions, everyday terms, and clever wordplay to keep players guessing. While the first three categories offer relatively straightforward connections, the Purple group demands a closer look at how the words sound rather than what they mean.
The biggest challenge is avoiding misleading associations and spotting the hidden patterns before running out of attempts. If you managed to solve all four groups without using too many mistakes, you have earned a solid Connections win!