NYT Letter Boxed Hints and Answer for Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026: A Hard X and Only One Two-Word Route

Letter Boxed from The New York Times (NYT) for Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 has the sides R/B/O, P/Y/L, U/A/N and H/X/W and a par of 6 words, according to the puzzle data on the Letter Boxed page. The X is the awkward one this time. Par is 6 today, and the rules sit on our Letter Boxed page. Five hints come first, and the Times’ own solution is the last thing here.

The four sides

Side	Letters
1	R, B, O
2	P, Y, L
3	U, A, N
4	H, X, W

The saved dictionary holds 371 words, and every one of them follows the side rule.

How many words start and end on each letter?

We counted these from the day’s own dictionary, so they describe only this box. “Inside” counts every word that contains the letter at least once.

Side	Letter	Starts	Ends	Inside
1	R	22	28	113
1	B	52	15	79
1	O	20	29	151
2	P	91	35	143
2	Y	23	55	108
2	L	35	32	141
3	U	6	19	109
3	A	34	59	239
3	N	24	38	77
4	H	42	25	101
4	X	1	19	29
4	W	21	17	80

By side, 149 words start on the P/Y/L side and 122 end there, the most of any side. The U/A/N side starts only 64 words but ends 116. The H/X/W side has the fewest endings, 61, and ties the U/A/N side at 64 starts.

The X is the hardest letter to place. It is inside just 29 words, fewer than any other letter, and only one word starts with it. Of those 29, 19 end in X and 9 have it in the middle, so most words that use it finish on it. The U is the next-hardest opener, with 6 starts.

What we counted	Today
Two-word solutions that chain and cover all 12 letters	1
One-word solutions	0
Longest valid word	9 letters (3 words)

The one two-word pair in the dictionary is the Times’ own.

Five hints, light to strong

1. The Times’ own solution is two words, four fewer than par.
2. The words run 6 letters, then 7.
3. The first word starts on the R/B/O side and ends on the P/Y/L side; the second word starts on that same last letter.
4. The W and the U are in the first word; the H and the X are in the second.
5. The first word starts with B and ends in P. The second starts with P and ends in X.

Warm-up words

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

Word	Letters
Burlap	6
Hyrax	5
Layup	5
Hoary	5

Keep a streak on the November 2026 calendar or the weekly printable. Yesterday’s box: Friday, Nov. 6 Letter Boxed. More Saturday puzzles: Wordle and Connections.

Today’s Letter Boxed answer (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

The Times’ own solution for Nov. 7, 2026 is Blowup, then Pharynx.

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

Word	Side of each letter, in order
Blowup	B1, L2, O1, W4, U3, P2
Pharynx	P2, H4, A3, R1, Y2, N3, X4

No other pair of words in the puzzle's own word list solves this box in two.

The P that ends the first word starts the second, and together the two words use all twelve letters. Both were matched to the puzzle’s official data before posting, and no other two-word pair in the dictionary does the job.

Yesterday's Letter Boxed answer

The Times' own solution to Letter Boxed on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026 was Farmland, then Dovekie, with sides D/K/R, I/N/M, V/F/L, E/O/A. Yesterday's hints and full solution.