Connections #1252 Hints & Answers Today, November 14, 2026

The New York Times Connections for Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, is puzzle #1252, edited by Wyna Liu. One tile is only two letters long, and our Connections hub covers the basics if you are new to the game. Two hints per color are below, and the full solution sits under a spoiler heading.

Today’s 16 words

Complex, Chess, Battle, Advanced, Marriage, Progressive, Center, Mottle, Go, Facility, Modern, Othello, Trib, Stratego, Campus, Foremost

Hints for each group

Yellow

• Hint 1

  Each means ahead of the times, the newest of its kind.
• Hint 2

  One also means first in rank; one is a political label for reform-minded voters.
• Reveal the yellow group

  Cutting-Edge: Advanced, Foremost, Modern, Progressive

Green

• Hint 1

  Each names the grounds or building where a school, hospital or company is based.
• Hint 2

  One is the land and buildings of a university; one can also mean complicated.
• Reveal the green group

  Locations for an Institution: Campus, Center, Complex, Facility

Blue

• Hint 1

  Each is a game for two players on a board, won by thinking several moves ahead.
• Hint 2

  One shares its name with a Shakespeare tragedy; one is played with black and white stones on a grid of lines.
• Reveal the blue group

  Strategy Board Games: Chess, Go, Othello, Stratego

Purple

• Hint 1

  Change the first letter of each one to get something a new parent buys.
• Hint 2

  One turns into where a baby sleeps; one turns into what a baby drinks from.
• Reveal the purple group

  Baby Gear with First Letter Changed: Battle, Marriage, Mottle, Trib

Solving tips

Show the solving tips

Find the two-letter tile first and ask what it could be besides a verb. That opens the tabletop group quickly.

Battle words will distract you, and the fighting theme is not a group. A tile that looks wrong on every reading may need a single new letter at its front.

A weekend solve fits nicely on the November 2026 printable calendar; the printable weekly calendar suits a seven-day log.

More Saturday puzzles: Wordle hints, Strands hints and Pips hints.

Today’s Connections answers (spoilers)

Look away now if you want to finish on your own.

• Yellow, Cutting-Edge

  Advanced, Foremost, Modern, Progressive
• Green, Locations for an Institution

  Campus, Center, Complex, Facility
• Blue, Strategy Board Games

  Chess, Go, Othello, Stratego
• Purple, Baby Gear With First Letter Changed

  Battle, Marriage, Mottle, Trib

1. Cutting-EdgeAdvanced, Foremost, Modern, Progressive
2. Locations for an InstitutionCampus, Center, Complex, Facility
3. Strategy Board GamesChess, Go, Othello, Stratego
4. Baby Gear With First Letter ChangedBattle, Marriage, Mottle, Trib

Why the traps worked

Battle sits beside Chess and Stratego and looks like the theme of a war game. Swap its B for an R and you get Rattle, a baby toy.

Complex can mean complicated, which makes it a fit for Advanced, yet here it is a building, like Campus. Marriage might seem to pair with Othello, a tragedy about a marriage, until a new first letter turns it into Carriage. Center is also the part of a chessboard both players fight over.

Decoy map

Entry	Real group	Look-alike group	Why it tempts
Battle	Baby Gear With First Letter Changed	Strategy Board Games	Chess and Stratego are both war games.
Complex	Locations for an Institution	Cutting-Edge	It can mean complicated, close to Advanced.
Center	Locations for an Institution	Strategy Board Games	Chess openings fight for the middle of the board.
Marriage	Baby Gear With First Letter Changed	Strategy Board Games	Othello is a play about a marriage.

Our answers match the official data saved for this puzzle. Sunday brings #1253.

Yesterday's Connections answer

The four groups in Connections on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, easiest to hardest:

• Yellow, Use the Internet: Browse, Scroll, Search, Surf
• Green, Media Attention: Coverage, Exposure, Press, Publicity
• Blue, Things That Are Towed: Barge, Glider, Trailer, Water Skier
• Purple, Brain ___: Freeze, Teaser, Trust, Waves

Yesterday's hints and full solution.