NYT Connections Hints and Answers for Monday, Nov. 2, 2026 (#1240): Trek Gear, Anger, Mist and Mirrors

Today’s Connections from The New York Times (NYT) is puzzle #1240, for Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, edited by Wyna Liu. One group is gear for a hike, one is words that mean to make someone angry, one is things that make mist, and one is things that have mirrors. Two of the entries share the word Water, which makes the board harder than it looks. Below are two levels of hints for each color, then the full solution and an explanation of the overlaps in a marked spoiler section.

Today’s 16 words

Medicine Cabinet, Compass, Fog Machine, Incense, Waterfall, Disco Ball, Nettle, Hiking Boots, Dressing Room, Dry Ice, Water Bottle, Wind Up, Pique, Kaleidoscope, Humidifier, Backpack

How the game works

Sort the 16 entries into four groups of four. You can make four mistakes. The groups run from yellow to green, blue and purple, with purple the group that depends most on wordplay.

Hints for each group

Yellow

• Hint 1

  Things you pack for a day on the trail.
• Hint 2

  One shows the way, one carries the rest, one goes on your feet and one holds a drink.

Green

• Hint 1

  Each entry can be a verb meaning to irritate someone.
• Hint 2

  A prickly plant, a scented stick that burns, a sudden flash of resentment, and what you do to a clock spring.

Blue

• Hint 1

  Each one puts a cloud of tiny water drops or vapor into the air.
• Hint 2

  Two are machines, one is a frozen solid that gives off cold vapor, and one is found in nature.

Purple

• Hint 1

  Each entry has a mirror in it or on it.
• Hint 2

  One spins from a ceiling, one holds toothpaste, one is where you try on clothes and one is a tube you turn to see patterns.

Solving tips

Start with yellow, because the trail theme is clear. Be careful with Water Bottle, which also looks like it belongs next to Waterfall. Incense is a trap of its own, since it can be a thing you burn rather than a word for anger. Leave purple for last: once the other three groups are placed, the four entries left over are easy to check against the idea of a mirror.

Keep a streak log on our printable weekly calendar or the November 2026 printable calendar.

More of today’s puzzles: Wordle hints, Strands hints and Pips hints.

Today’s Connections answers (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

• Yellow, Things to Bring on a Trek: Backpack, Compass, Hiking Boots, Water Bottle
• Green, Anger: Incense, Nettle, Pique, Wind Up
• Blue, Mist Makers: Dry Ice, Fog Machine, Humidifier, Waterfall
• Purple, Things with Mirrors: Disco Ball, Dressing Room, Kaleidoscope, Medicine Cabinet

1. Things to Bring on a TrekBackpack, Compass, Hiking Boots, Water Bottle
2. AngerIncense, Nettle, Pique, Wind Up
3. Mist MakersDry Ice, Fog Machine, Humidifier, Waterfall
4. Things with MirrorsDisco Ball, Dressing Room, Kaleidoscope, Medicine Cabinet

Why the traps worked

Two Water words. Water Bottle and Waterfall start the same way. Water Bottle goes with the trek gear, and Waterfall goes with the mist makers.

Incense. Incense is also a noun for something you burn. In this puzzle it is a verb, and it sits with Nettle, Pique and Wind Up as a word for making someone angry.

The mirror group. A Disco Ball is covered in small mirrors, and a Kaleidoscope uses mirrors to repeat its patterns. A Dressing Room and a Medicine Cabinet each have one for checking your reflection.

We checked the solution against the puzzle’s official data before posting. Puzzle #1241 arrives at midnight.

Yesterday's Connections answer

The four groups in Connections on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, easiest to hardest:

• Yellow, Kinds of Teeth: Bicuspid, Canine, Incisor, Molar
• Green, Kinds of Love: Brotherly, Puppy, Self, Unrequited
• Blue, Enthusiast: Fiend, Head, Hound, Lover
• Purple, Synonyms for "Soaked" with First Letter Changed: Doggy, Maturated, Trenched, Tripping

Yesterday's hints and full solution.