Letter Boxed Hints & Answer Today, November 15, 2026

Letter Boxed from The New York Times (NYT) for Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026 has the sides I/U/N, V/Y/O, T/C/M and E/R/P, and a par of 4, according to the puzzle data on the Letter Boxed page. With a par of 4, the question is how far below it a solver can go, and the rules are on our Letter Boxed page. The saved list has 1,016 words. Below are the par math, the awkward letters, five hints and four warm-up words, with the Times’ solution at the end.

The four sides

Side	Letters
1	I, U, N
2	V, Y, O
3	T, C, M
4	E, R, P

Twenty-four ordered pairs are barred by the side rule alone, since each letter has two side-mates.

How far under par 4 can a solver get?

Par 4 means four words or fewer. The saved list sets a floor of two. The widest single word touches 10 of the 12 letters, and two words reach that, so no word finishes the box alone.

Words in the finish	Against par 4	Routes in the saved list
1	3 under	0
2	2 under	66
3	1 under	45,773
4	Level with par	Not counted

The three-word count covers chains where the first two words leave at least one letter out. Total length varies far more than word count does: the 66 two-word routes run from 13 to 24 letters.

Join letter	Two-word routes
C	47
E	8
T	6
R	3
N	1
I	1

The C alone carries 47 of the 66, so a first word that ends on a C is the quickest road to a two-word finish.

Which letters are hardest to place?

The V is the trouble. It sits in 72 words, opens 22 and closes none. Of the 108 ordered pairs on different sides, 11 never appear in the list, and 8 of those 11 involve the V: V then U, N, T, C, M or P, plus C then V and P then V. The other three are T then N, M then R and C then P.

Letter	Words containing it	Words starting with it	Words ending with it
V	72	22	0
U	258	16	28
Y	222	8	142
P	330	161	45
O	679	59	75

The Y starts only 8 words, the fewest of the twelve letters, and the U starts 16.

Side	Letters	Words that start on it	Words that end on it
1	I, U, N	127	187
2	V, Y, O	89	217
3	T, C, M	486	295
4	E, R, P	314	317

Side 3 opens 486 words, more than any other side. The longest word runs 16 letters, and nothing else comes close to it in this list.

Five hints, light to strong

1. The Times’ own solution uses two words, the lowest count this list allows.
2. The longer word has 10 letters, one of 45 that long. The shorter has 4 letters, one of 213.
3. The first word starts and ends on the T/C/M side, and the second word begins on that side too.
4. The R, the U and the V sit in the first word. The Y, the P and the O sit in the second.
5. The first word starts with C and ends in T. The second starts with T and ends in O.

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
Money	5
Venom	5
Comet	5
Entry	5

Mark the finish on the November 2026 calendar or the weekly printable. Saturday’s box is on the Nov. 14 Letter Boxed page. For another Sunday game, open the Wordle page.

Today’s Letter Boxed answer (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

The Times’ own solution for Nov. 15, 2026 is Circumvent, then Typo.

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

Word	Side of each letter, in order
Circumvent	C3, I1, R4, C3, U1, M3, V2, E4, N1, T3
Typo	T3, Y2, P4, O2

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

• Centumvir, then Ropy
• Centumvir, then Rompy
• Centumvir, then Roupy
• Monotypic, then Curve
• Pyruvic, then Centimo
• Pyruvic, then Contemn
• Ruptive, then Economy
• Toponymic, then Curve
• Curvet, then Toponymic
• Monotypic, then Curvet

The T closing the first word opens the second, and together they use all twelve letters. Both words were matched to the puzzle’s official data before posting. The route totals 14 letters; one route is shorter, 7 others tie it and 57 are longer.

Yesterday's Letter Boxed answer

The Times' own solution to Letter Boxed on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026 was Sudoku, then Unplayable, with sides P/K/B, N/L/S, U/O/Y, A/E/D. Yesterday's hints and full solution.