Letter Boxed Hints & Answer Today, November 11, 2026

Letter Boxed from The New York Times (NYT) for Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026 uses the sides A/I/U, T/N/Y, S/H/L and P/X/B, and its par is 6 words, according to the puzzle data on the Letter Boxed page. The word list has 1,101 entries. With par at 6, the rules sit on our Letter Boxed page if you want a refresher. Read on for the sides, a look at which letters rarely meet, five hints and a few warm-up words. The Times’ own solution closes the page.

The four sides

Side	Letters
1	A, I, U
2	T, N, Y
3	S, H, L
4	P, X, B

Every one of the 1,101 words in the saved list follows the side rule, so no two neighboring letters share a side.

Which letter pairs and sides make this box awkward?

Twelve letters on four sides give 108 ordered pairs. A script tallied each pair across the list, and 12 of them never appear.

Pair, first letter then second	Words that use it
S then B	1
X then A	1
X then T	1
X then L	1
Y then X	2
L then N	2
X then N	2
B then N	2
U then X	3
N then X	3

The 12 pairs that never occur are T then X, Y then H, S then X, H then N, P, X or B, L then X, P then N, and X then U, S or H. The X is in 7 of them, and it starts just 6 words while ending 19.

The sides tell the same story from a different angle. Counting every word by the side of its first and last letter gives a lopsided box.

Side	Letters	Words that start on it	Words that end on it
1	A, I, U	184	177
2	T, N, Y	199	294
3	S, H, L	329	531
4	P, X, B	389	99

Side 3 closes nearly half the list (531 of 1,101 words, with the S alone ending 441), while side 4 opens plenty of words and ends hardly any. Side 1 begins the fewest.

How many two-word solutions exist, and how long can a word get?

The longest words run 11 letters, and three words in the list reach it. No word touches more than 9 of the 12 letters, and one word does that. Because nothing covers all twelve, the shortest finish has two words.

What we counted	Today
Two-word routes that chain and cover all 12 letters	33
Different first words in those routes	6
Different second words	22
One-word solutions	0
Longest word in the list	11 letters (3 words)
Most letters of the box covered by one word	9 (1 word)
Fewest total letters in a two-word route	15 (4 routes)
Most total letters in a two-word route	22

Routes pile up on the first side: 21 of the 33 open on A/I/U, 9 on P/X/B and 3 on T/N/Y, with none starting on S/H/L. Only six different words can begin a route, and the two words always meet on one of two shared letters, one of which joins 29 of the 33.

Word length in the list	Words
3 letters	162
4 letters	270
5 letters	276
6 letters	184
7 letters	107
8 letters	64
9 letters	28
10 letters or more	10

A finish with 6 words is par, and a two-word finish exists, so each of the 33 routes beats par by four words.

Five hints, light to strong

1. The Times’ own solution is two words, four fewer than par.
2. The pair is 15 letters long, tied with three other routes for the shortest total, and one word is far longer than the other. The long one ties for the longest word in the list.
3. The first word starts on the T/N/Y side and ends on the A/I/U side; the second word starts on that same last letter.
4. The first word holds the T and the B; the second holds the X and the Y.
5. The first word starts with T and ends in A. The second starts with A and ends in S.

Warm-up words

These fit the box and the side rule, and none belongs to the Times’ own solution. Try them to test a route.

Word	Letters
Abut	4
Alps	4
Alpha	5
Ably	4

Keep a streak on the November 2026 calendar or the weekly printable. Yesterday’s box: Tuesday, Nov. 10 Letter Boxed. More Wednesday puzzles: Wordle, Connections, Strands, Pips and Spelling Bee.

Today’s Letter Boxed answer (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

The Times’ own solution for Nov. 11, 2026 is Tuba, then Anaphylaxis.

Follow the side numbers below to trace the route on the box.

Word	Side of each letter, in order
Tuba	T2, U1, B4, A1
Anaphylaxis	A1, N2, A1, P4, H3, Y2, L3, A1, X4, I1, S3

32 other pairs of words from the puzzle's own word list also solve the box in two. The 10 shortest:

• Anaphylaxis, then Stub
• Phylaxis, then Subunit
• Phylaxis, then Sunbath
• Anaphylaxis, then Stubs
• Phylaxis, then Subtilin
• Phylaxis, then Subunist
• Phylaxis, then Subunits
• Tsuba, then Anaphylaxis
• Anaphylaxis, then Subtil
• Anaphylaxis, then Subtly

The A that ends the first word begins the second, and together they use all twelve letters. Both words were matched to the puzzle’s official data before posting. At 15 letters, the pair sits at the low end of the 15 to 22 letters the 33 routes span.

Yesterday's Letter Boxed answer

The Times' own solution to Letter Boxed on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026 was Aquatic, then Chevron, with sides E/T/O, H/R/A, V/U/I, N/C/Q. Yesterday's hints and full solution.