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Connections #1,242

November 4, 2026

By Akash Wadhwani. Checked against two sources, updated 4:00 AM ET.

Sixteen words and four groups of four. Yellow is usually the straightforward one and purple is usually wordplay, so the hints below go one step at a time.

Hint 1: one word from each group
  • Yellow: one of the four is WEDGE.
  • Green: one of the four is IRON.
  • Blue: one of the four is LOLL.
  • Purple: one of the four is FLY.
Hint 2: the four categories
  • Yellow: Triangular Prisms With A Sharp Edge.
  • Green: Words After "do Not" On A Care Label.
  • Blue: Move Idly, With "around".
  • Purple: Fire___.
FLYPOKEIRONWORKSWOODWRINGWEDGEBLEACHPUTTERCRACKERDOORSTOPLOLLFLATIRON BUILDINGSHUFFLETUMBLE DRYPIE SLICE

Today's Connections groups, #1,242

  • Yellow, Triangular Prisms With A Sharp Edge: DOORSTOP, FLATIRON BUILDING, PIE SLICE, WEDGE.
  • Green, Words After "do Not" On A Care Label: BLEACH, IRON, TUMBLE DRY, WRING.
  • Blue, Move Idly, With "around": LOLL, POKE, PUTTER, SHUFFLE.
  • Purple, Fire___: CRACKER, FLY, WOOD, WORKS.

The purple group

Purple today is Fire___: CRACKER, FLY, WOOD, WORKS. Purple is the group the setters build last, and it is usually a hidden word, a sound, or a phrase pattern rather than a plain category. If two of its words looked like they belonged somewhere else, that was the point.

Yesterday's Connections

Connections #1,241, November 3, 2026: Keep Going (CARRY ON, CONTINUE, PROCEED, RESUME); Things With Wheels (OFFICE CHAIR, ROLLER BAG, SHOPPING CART, STROLLER); Things A Server Brings At A Restaurant (CHECK, FOOD, MENU, TAP WATER); Ending In Menu Bar Headings (CREDIT, INTERVIEW, PROFILE, WHELP). Yesterday's page ›

Connections is four groups. This one is five words.

One real news sentence a day, twenty to thirty words, something that actually happened. Keep the five words a headline would keep and let the rest go. Here is yesterday's, solved.

At Camden Lock, a 71-year-old woman, Beatrice Millar, took off her shoes, jumped in after a drowning man and saved him by holding his head above water.

Five tries. blue is the right word in the right place, orange is one of the five sitting somewhere else, grey is not one of them. The result beats the process, a name or a job beats a place, and the little words never count.

How you finish decides which sticker you keep.

Got it in oneClean copyFirst editionSo closeSince day one
Play today's sentence ›