Letter Boxed Hints & Answer Today, November 12, 2026

Letter Boxed from The New York Times (NYT) for Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026 has the sides I/L/M, D/E/R, B/F/G and P/N/A, and a par of 4, according to the puzzle data on the Letter Boxed page. The word list holds 977 entries. Par is 4 today, and the rules are on our Letter Boxed page. Below: the sides, how narrow the two-word routes are, five hints and four warm-up words. The Times’ solution waits at the bottom.

The four sides

Side	Letters
1	I, L, M
2	D, E, R
3	B, F, G
4	P, N, A

All 977 words in the saved list obey the side rule, so no two neighboring letters sit on one side.

Why is par 4 easy to beat on this box?

Two words are enough, but only barely. A script chained every pair of words in the list, where the second starts on the last letter of the first, and kept the pairs that use all twelve letters. Just 3 pairs pass.

Check on the saved list	Result
Two-word routes covering all 12 letters	3
Letters those routes can join on	G (2 routes), E (1 route)
Total letters across the three routes	15, 16 and 19
One-word solutions	0
Three-word routes covering all 12 letters	4,743
Distinct words that can open a three-word route	480
Shortest total for a three-word route	15 letters (10 routes)

The three-word number counts only chains where the first two words leave a letter uncovered, so none of them is a two-word route with a spare word added. Every one of those 4,743 finishes beats par by a word. Joins matter there too: the G is one of the two joining letters in 3,034 of them, the E in 1,440.

The closest thing to a one-word answer reaches 9 letters, and three words do it. Each leaves out three letters, and the P is always among them. The longest words in the list run 11 letters, and five words reach that length.

Which letters are hardest to place?

The P is the loner. It appears in just 150 of the 977 words, fewer than any other letter, and it starts 105 words but ends only 18. It is part of 9 of the 17 ordered pairs that never occur, such as the P followed by a D or a B.

Letter	Words containing it
P	150
F	162
M	276
B	286
A	659

The A sits at the other extreme, in 659 words. Counting words by the side of their first and last letter shows where routes can start and finish.

Side	Letters	Words that start on it	Words that end on it
1	I, L, M	192	163
2	D, E, R	188	365
3	B, F, G	347	229
4	P, N, A	250	220

Side 2 closes the most words, 365, and the E alone ends 242 of them. Side 3 opens the most, 347.

Five hints, light to strong

1. The Times’ own solution is two words, two fewer than par.
2. The longer word is 11 letters, one of five words that long in the list.
3. The first word starts and ends on the B/F/G side, and the second word begins on that same side.
4. The first word holds the F and the D; the second holds the L and the M.
5. The first word starts with B and ends in G. The second starts with G and ends in P.

Warm-up words

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

Word	Letters
Ample	5
Bagel	5
Flame	5
Blend	5

Keep a streak on the November 2026 calendar or the weekly printable. Yesterday’s box: Wednesday, Nov. 11 Letter Boxed. More Thursday puzzles: Wordle.

Today’s Letter Boxed answer (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

The Times’ own solution for Nov. 12, 2026 is Befriending, then Glamp.

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

Word	Side of each letter, in order
Befriending	B3, E2, F3, R2, I1, E2, N4, D2, I1, N4, G3
Glamp	G3, L1, A4, M1, P4

2 other pairs of words from the puzzle's own word list also solve the box in two.

• Findable, then Epigram
• Befriending, then Glamping

The G 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 16 letters, the pair sits between the other two-word routes, which total 15 and 19.

Yesterday's Letter Boxed answer

The Times' own solution to Letter Boxed on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026 was Tuba, then Anaphylaxis, with sides A/I/U, T/N/Y, S/H/L, P/X/B. Yesterday's hints and full solution.