Letter Boxed Hints & Answer Today, November 14, 2026

Letter Boxed from The New York Times (NYT) for Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026 has the sides P/K/B, N/L/S, U/O/Y and A/E/D, and a par of 4, according to the puzzle data on the Letter Boxed page. The saved list has 1,613 words, and the rules sit on our Letter Boxed page next to the par of 4 you are chasing. This page checks which words the list accepts, counts the two-word routes, gives five hints and four warm-up words, and keeps the Times’ solution for the end.

The four sides

Side	Letters
1	P, K, B
2	N, L, S
3	U, O, Y
4	A, E, D

Every word in the list follows the side rule, so a letter never follows a side-mate.

Which words fit the Nov. 14 box but are not in the list?

A word can obey every side rule and still be rejected, because the puzzle accepts only its own list. The words below pass the side test on this box, and the saved data leaves each one out.

Word	In the 1,613-word list?
London	No
Nobel	No
Alaskan	No
Blonds	No
Spelunk	No
Paleo	No
Spunky	Yes
Kebabs	Yes
Banyan	Yes
Nobody	Yes

The file proves only that a word is absent, and the list says nothing about why. If a route you like includes a word from the “No” rows, swap it before you spend a turn on it.

How many two-word routes cover the box?

Twenty-two. A script chained every word to every word that starts on its last letter and kept the pairs that use all twelve letters.

Check on the saved list	Result
Two-word routes covering all 12 letters	22
Joining letters	S (17 routes), B (3), U (2)
Total letters across a route	14 to 19
Routes with 16 letters in total	4
One-word solutions	0
Three-word routes where the first two words leave a letter out	101,973

The S carries the join in 17 of the 22 routes, so a first word ending in S is the best bet for a quick finish. Par of 4 is generous: two words beat it by two, three words by one.

Which letter pairs cannot touch today?

Of the 108 ordered pairs that sit on different sides, 4 never appear in the list: K then D, S then D, D then K and D then N. All four involve the D, which turns up in 320 words, fewer than any other letter.

Letter	Words containing it	Words starting with it	Words ending with it
D	320	67	70
Y	338	22	144
K	430	99	68
E	764	43	253
S	913	219	633

The Y opens only 22 words and the E only 43, so a word that must start on the A/E/D side has few choices. The S ends 633 words, and side 2 (N, L, S) closes 785 in all.

Side	Letters	Words that start on it	Words that end on it
1	P, K, B	709	143
2	N, L, S	477	785
3	U, O, Y	170	241
4	A, E, D	257	444

Side 1 opens 709 words and closes 143, so a route tends to leave the P, K and B early. The longest word in the list runs 12 letters, and two words reach that length. The widest any single word gets is 9 of the 12 letters.

Five hints, light to strong

1. The Times’ own solution is two words, half of par.
2. The longer word has 10 letters, one of 17 words that long in the list. The shorter has 6.
3. The first word starts on the N/L/S side and ends on the U/O/Y side. The second word opens on that U/O/Y side.
4. The K and the D sit in the first word. The P and the B sit in the second.
5. The first word starts with S and ends in U. The second starts with U and ends in E.

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
Peony	5
Nobody	6
Spunky	6
Kebabs	6

Keep score on the November 2026 calendar or the weekly printable. Friday’s box is on the Nov. 13 Letter Boxed page. The same day’s Wordle page is next.

Today’s Letter Boxed answer (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

The Times’ own solution for Nov. 14, 2026 is Sudoku, then Unplayable.

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

Word	Side of each letter, in order
Sudoku	S2, U3, D4, O3, K1, U3
Unplayable	U3, N2, P1, L2, A4, Y3, A4, B1, L2, E4

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

• Podleys, then Sunbake
• Polyblends, then Skua
• Ponduses, then Skybal
• Podleys, then Sunbakes
• Polyblends, then Skuas
• Polyblends, then Subak
• Pseudobulb, then Banky
• Pyknoses, then Subdual
• Sudoku, then Unpayable
• Albespynes, then Sudoku

The U closing the first word opens the second, and the two use all twelve letters. Both words were matched to the puzzle’s official data before posting. Its 16 letters tie with three other routes; 9 routes are shorter and 9 are longer.

Yesterday's Letter Boxed answer

The Times' own solution to Letter Boxed on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026 was Thingamajig, then Grove, with sides H/A/R, T/G/E, I/M/O, N/J/V. Yesterday's hints and full solution.