Connections Hint
Puzzle #1247 · November 9, 2026

NYT Connections Hints for November 9, 2026

Start with the spoiler-free hints. Go deeper only when you need to. Reveal answers on your own terms.

Monday, November 9, 2026
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Today’s 16 Puzzle Words
Tap any word to see how it’s used in this puzzle
NAVY SEALBOOTCUTFUN SPONGESTEAK KNIFEGAMMA RAYLOW-RISEMINT LEAFSHELL GAMEFLIMFLAMCON JOBSKINNYGRAPEFRUIT SPOONRIP-OFFDISTRESSEDCARD SHARKTAPE DISPENSER

Spoiler-Free Hints

Three levels — warmer as you read down
i Ultra safe

A direction for each group — no names given.

  • A shady quartet — all four leave someone on the losing end.
  • Plain descriptive words you've likely met a hundred times before.
  • Four oddly specific objects — look closely at their edges.
  • Something unusual links these four; meaning won't help you here.
ii Warmer

What kind of thinking each group asks for.

  • This is the vocabulary of trickery — think of the many colorful ways to describe a swindle.
  • Everyday fashion vocabulary — the words used to describe how a certain garment fits and looks.
  • Think about the physical shape of everyday objects — especially their outer boundary.
  • The trick is verbal, buried inside the words themselves — the meaning of each phrase is a decoy.
iii Mild spoilers

Pointed nudges on the words built to fool you.

  • Four different slangy expressions for a swindle — each one paints a vivid little picture of being cheated.
  • These are all adjectives you'd find on a denim label describing fit, wash and style.
  • Each item is a real object whose working edge is toothed — picture how each one gets used.
  • Look at the tail end of each phrase: the last word is also a marine creature in its own right.

Today’s Trap Words

The words engineered to mislead

Every Connections board plants a few decoys. Here are today’s, and why they pull you the wrong way.

SHELL GAME

The word shell feels marine, so it pulls hard toward the animal group. Its real home is the swindle set, where it names a rigged street trick.

CARD SHARK

Shark reading suggests a predator, and the gambling vibe tempts pairing it with SHELL GAME. Only the last word actually matters here.

SKINNY

Besides a fit, it can mean confidential inside information — enough to tempt a solver toward the dishonesty group.

DISTRESSED

The word can mean troubled or badly treated, which sounds like the aftermath of a swindle rather than a way to describe fabric.

Connections Answers — November 9, 2026

Tap any group to reveal it
Answers are hidden — tap a group to peek, or reveal all at once.
DECEITFUL SCHEME
CON JOB · SHELL GAME · RIP-OFF · FLIMFLAM
Tap to reveal
JEANS DESCRIPTORS
BOOTCUT · LOW-RISE · SKINNY · DISTRESSED
Tap to reveal
THINGS WITH SERRATED EDGES
STEAK KNIFE · MINT LEAF · TAPE DISPENSER · GRAPEFRUIT SPOON
Tap to reveal
ENDING IN SEA CREATURES
CARD SHARK · NAVY SEAL · GAMMA RAY · FUN SPONGE
Tap to reveal
SEE ALSO:
NYT Wordle hints for November 9, 2026 NYT Pips hints for November 9, 2026 NYT Strands hints for November 9, 2026

Category Breakdown — Puzzle #1247

Why each group works — not just what it is

DECEITFUL SCHEME

Four colorful idioms for a swindle, ranging from nursery-rhyme slang to casino imagery. They feel like a family the moment you read them, which is exactly why this is the gentlest group on the board.

JEANS DESCRIPTORS

All four describe the fit or the finish of denim, from the shape of the leg to deliberate fading. SKINNY is the sneaky one — it reads as a body description until you picture it on a tag.

THINGS WITH SERRATED EDGES

A deliberately mismatched set: kitchen tools plus an office staple, united only by a toothed working edge. GRAPEFRUIT SPOON is the tell, since its little notches are the entire reason it exists.

ENDING IN SEA CREATURES

Each phrase's final word doubles as a marine animal — shark, sponge, ray, seal — hidden behind an unrelated everyday meaning. It is a letters-and-luck category, which is why it lands last.

Word Guide — All 16 Puzzle Words

What each word means in this puzzle
NAVY SEAL
A member of a famously rigorous maritime special-operations force. The final word also names a whiskered marine mammal, which is the hidden angle.
BOOTCUT
A trouser-leg shape that flares slightly below the knee, named for the way it sits over a tall boot. Used purely as a fit descriptor.
FUN SPONGE
A whimsical phrase that can mean a porous sea animal or the absorbent kitchen item — soft, full of holes and faintly comic.
STEAK KNIFE
A table knife with a sharp, usually toothed blade made for cutting cooked meat. Its aggressive edge sets it apart from gentler cutlery.
GAMMA RAY
A form of extremely high-energy radiation; the phrase pairs a Greek letter with a beam of light. Its last word is also a flat-bodied fish.
LOW-RISE
A fit that sits low on the hips rather than at the waist, a silhouette that drifts in and out of fashion.
MINT LEAF
The small green leaf of the mint plant, used for tea and garnishes. Its famously jagged margin is what makes it interesting here.
SHELL GAME
A street swindle involving cups and a hidden pea, or more broadly any rigged transaction you cannot win. The name nods to a hard outer covering.
FLIMFLAM
Old-fashioned slang for nonsense or a confidence trick. It sounds playful and bouncy, but it describes deliberate deception, usually on a petty scale.
CON JOB
A scheme in which someone is talked into losing money or trust; the phrase implies a smooth, persuasive operator on the other end of the deal.
SKINNY
A word for very tight-fitting, and also slang for confidential inside information. Both senses make it useful bait on this board.
GRAPEFRUIT SPOON
A small spoon with a notched rim, built to scoop citrus segments away from their membranes. Those little teeth are the whole point of the design.
RIP-OFF
A deal that charges far more than something is worth, or a blatant imitation of it. The image is of something torn away from you.
DISTRESSED
Describing fabric that has been deliberately faded, frayed or worn to look lived-in — brand-new clothing styled to seem old.
CARD SHARK
A skilled and often ruthless card player. The phrase borrows a predator's name to suggest someone circling the table looking for prey.
TAPE DISPENSER
A desk tool that holds a roll of adhesive and slices it on a toothed metal edge — the kind of object you use without ever noticing the teeth.

Puzzle Design Analysis

Why the editor constructed it this way

Wyna Liu plants the hardest group in plain sight: four everyday phrases whose final words are also marine animals, so solvers keep sorting by meaning while the real hook is spelling. SHELL GAME, CARD SHARK and SKINNY bait a fake criminal underworld, and the serrated-edge set slips in a citrus tool and a desk gadget where blades are expected.

Difficulty & Analysis

How tough today’s board really plays
Overall
6.0/10
Most deceptive
SHELL GAME

a textbook decoy

Hardest group
Hidden Sea Creatures

requires lateral thinking

Connections Strategy Guides

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