NYT Connections Puzzle Saturday Nov. 7, 2026 Features Pirate Loot, Shirt Styles and Weather Fragments

NYT Connections puzzle #1245 released Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026

The New York Times published Connections puzzle #1245 on Saturday, November 7, 2026. The board displayed sixteen words: POLO, EASTER, NEW, CLONE, RHODE, RINGER, SOON, TREASURE, HENLEY, BOUNTY, NORTH, CANE, SPOILS, SOUTH, RAGLAN and BOOTY.

Players must arrange the words into four groups of four, with color‑coded difficulty ranging from yellow (easiest) to purple (hardest).

The yellow group relates to things a pirate might walk away with. The green group relates to different styles of clothing. The blue group relates to the beginnings of certain names. The purple group relates to weather, and the hardest group hides the endings of powerful weather systems; treating the purple entries as fragments helps identify the connection.

TechRadar’s puzzle writer rated the game “Hard” and completed it with a perfect score.

A notable trap involves compass directions: two full compass points appear on the board, and a third tile resembles a compass point when only its first four letters are read.

Three words—BOUNTY, POLO and CANE—each have more than one meaning, so players must verify that a connection works for all four words in a group before submitting.

The four thematic sets are identified as Pirate’s Plunder, clothing styles, name beginnings and weather fragments.