NYT Connections Hints, Answers & Clues -
NYT Connections #1247 Tip
One category hides inside the last word of every phrase.
What Makes NYT Connections #1247 Tricky?
Words like SHELL GAME, CARD SHARK, SKINNY, and MINT LEAF land in completely different registers — con-artist slang, a card room, a clothing rack, a herb garden — and nothing on the surface suggests they share any logic.
The editor's main trick is that one category works entirely at the level of hidden words: you have to ignore what each phrase means as a whole and look at what is buried inside the final word of each one.
Two categories here are genuinely easy once you see them, but the serrated-edges group contains one member that will make most players stop and double-check, and the hidden-word category is easy to miss entirely if you are solving at speed.
Connections Hints for Every Word in the November 9, 2026 Puzzle
STEAK KNIFE
Connections hint for STEAK KNIFE
A table knife with a serrated blade designed to cut through meat — the teeth are the point here, not the steak.
CARD SHARK
Connections hint for CARD SHARK
Usually means someone who cheats or hustles at card games — but in this puzzle, ignore the meaning and look at what sea creature is hiding inside the word SHARK.
CON JOB
Connections hint for CON JOB
A deceptive scheme designed to swindle someone — con is short for confidence trick, and the whole phrase means a deliberate fraud.
BOOTCUT
Connections hint for BOOTCUT
A style of jeans that flares slightly from the knee down to accommodate a boot — one of the four classic jeans cuts.
NAVY SEAL
Connections hint for NAVY SEAL
A member of the US Navy's special-operations force — but in this puzzle the word SEAL at the end is what matters, and SEAL is a sea creature.
SHELL GAME
Connections hint for SHELL GAME
A street con where a ball is hidden under one of three shells and shuffled — it looks like it belongs with the fraud words, but look at what is hiding inside SHELL.
MINT LEAF
Connections hint for MINT LEAF
The leaf of the mint plant, which has distinctly serrated — tooth-notched — edges all the way around its perimeter.
GAMMA RAY
Connections hint for GAMMA RAY
A high-energy electromagnetic ray produced by radioactive decay — ignore the physics meaning and notice that RAY is also a flat sea creature.
TAPE DISPENSER
Connections hint for TAPE DISPENSER
The plastic or metal device that holds a roll of sticky tape and has a serrated cutting edge to tear off strips cleanly.
LOW-RISE
Connections hint for LOW-RISE
A jeans style cut to sit low on the hips, well below the natural waist — popular in the early 2000s.
FUN SPONGE
Connections hint for FUN SPONGE
A slang term for someone who absorbs all the fun out of a situation — a killjoy — but SPONGE at the end is a sea creature.
RIP-OFF
Connections hint for RIP-OFF
A swindle or overpriced scam — something that takes your money unfairly, a straightforward synonym for fraud.
SKINNY
Connections hint for SKINNY
A very slim, tight-fitting style of jeans that tapers all the way to the ankle — also means thin, but here it is a jeans descriptor.
FLIMFLAM
Connections hint for FLIMFLAM
A deceptive trick or swindle — the word itself sounds playful but it means a con, a hustle, a fraud.
GRAPEFRUIT SPOON
Connections hint for GRAPEFRUIT SPOON
A spoon with a serrated tip designed to scoop segments out of a grapefruit — the teeth cut through the membrane.
DISTRESSED
Connections hint for DISTRESSED
In the context of jeans, distressed means deliberately worn, faded, or torn to look aged — it is a finish, not a feeling.
Traps & Misdirects Hints for NYT Connections Puzzle (#1247)
SHELL GAME is a classic con-artist trick and CARD SHARK is someone who cheats at cards — both feel like they belong in a fraud or deception category together. That pairing is a dead end. Only one of these two belongs to the deceitful-scheme group; the other is there for a completely different reason that has nothing to do with its meaning.
NAVY SEAL reads as a military special-forces unit, CARD SHARK as a card cheat, FUN SPONGE as a killjoy, and GAMMA RAY as a type of radiation — four phrases with four completely unrelated meanings. The connection is not what any of these phrases mean but what animal is hiding inside the last word of each one: SEAL, SHARK, SPONGE, and RAY are all sea creatures.
SKINNY can mean thin or a type of jeans, and DISTRESSED can mean upset or a type of jeans — both words sit comfortably in the jeans category. They do both belong there, but the trap is assuming that every word in this puzzle with a clothing meaning is in the jeans group; some clothing-adjacent words are doing something else entirely.
MINT LEAF looks like the odd one out among serrated objects — a knife and a tape dispenser have obvious jagged edges, but a leaf feels soft and botanical. This one is genuine: the edge of a mint leaf is distinctly serrated, with small tooth-like notches all the way around.
Connections Hints for November 9, 2026
Yellow Connections Hints
Yellow Category Hint
Slang terms for a swindle or fraudulent trick
Think: Think: hustle, con, scam
Yellow Category Name
DECEITFUL SCHEME
Yellow Category Words
Reveal word 1
CON JOBReveal word 2
FLIMFLAMReveal word 3
RIP-OFFReveal word 4
SHELL GAMEGreen Connections Hints
Green Category Hint
Words that describe a specific cut or finish of denim
Think: Think: waistline, fit, wear
Green Category Name
JEANS DESCRIPTORS
Green Category Words
Reveal word 1
BOOTCUTReveal word 2
DISTRESSEDReveal word 3
LOW-RISEReveal word 4
SKINNYBlue Connections Hints
Blue Category Hint
Objects or things whose edges are jagged and tooth-like
Think: Think: tearing, cutting, notched
Blue Category Name
THINGS WITH SERRATED EDGES
Blue Category Words
Reveal word 1
GRAPEFRUIT SPOONReveal word 2
MINT LEAFReveal word 3
STEAK KNIFEReveal word 4
TAPE DISPENSERPurple Connections Hints
Purple Category Hint
Phrases that each conceal a sea creature in their final word
Think: Think: hidden animal, last word
Purple Category Name
ENDING IN SEA CREATURES
Purple Category Words
Reveal word 1
CARD SHARKReveal word 2
FUN SPONGEReveal word 3
GAMMA RAYReveal word 4
NAVY SEALNYT Connections Answers for November 9, 2026
NYT Connections Answers Explained: November 9, 2026
DECEITFUL SCHEME
CON JOB, FLIMFLAM, RIP-OFF, and SHELL GAME are all slang terms for a swindle or fraudulent trick — each one describes a way of deceiving someone out of their money or trust.
- CON JOB
- A con job is a deliberate fraud — con is short for confidence trick, where the swindler gains the victim's trust before stealing from them.
- FLIMFLAM
- Flimflam means a nonsensical or deceptive trick used to swindle someone — the word's playful sound disguises its meaning of outright fraud.
- RIP-OFF
- A rip-off is something that cheats you, either by taking your money unfairly or by being a blatant copy of something else — here it means a swindle.
- SHELL GAME
- A shell game is a street con where a ball is hidden under one of three shells and shuffled rapidly — the player can never win because the operator cheats; it belongs here despite SHELL also hiding a sea creature.
JEANS DESCRIPTORS
BOOTCUT, DISTRESSED, LOW-RISE, and SKINNY are all words used to describe a specific style, cut, or finish of denim jeans — each one tells you something different about the shape or look of the garment.
- BOOTCUT
- Bootcut jeans are straight through the thigh and flare slightly from the knee down — the extra room at the hem was originally designed to fit over a boot.
- DISTRESSED
- Distressed jeans are deliberately treated to look worn, faded, frayed, or torn — the damage is intentional and is a style choice, not a defect.
- LOW-RISE
- Low-rise jeans sit low on the hips, well below the natural waist — the waistband rests closer to the hip bone than a standard or high-rise cut.
- SKINNY
- Skinny jeans are cut very close to the leg all the way from hip to ankle — the tightest mainstream jeans silhouette.
THINGS WITH SERRATED EDGES
GRAPEFRUIT SPOON, MINT LEAF, STEAK KNIFE, and TAPE DISPENSER all have edges that are serrated — meaning jagged, notched, or tooth-like rather than smooth.
- GRAPEFRUIT SPOON
- A grapefruit spoon has a serrated tip — small teeth around the bowl's edge — so it can cut through the membrane between grapefruit segments as you scoop.
- MINT LEAF
- The edge of a mint leaf is naturally serrated, with small rounded teeth running all the way around the perimeter — this is a botanical feature, not a metaphor.
- STEAK KNIFE
- A steak knife has a serrated blade — a row of sharp teeth along the cutting edge — which grips and saws through meat more effectively than a smooth blade.
- TAPE DISPENSER
- A tape dispenser has a serrated metal or plastic strip along one edge so you can tear off a length of tape cleanly without scissors.
ENDING IN SEA CREATURES
CARD SHARK, FUN SPONGE, GAMMA RAY, and NAVY SEAL each end in a word that is also a sea creature — SHARK, SPONGE, RAY, and SEAL — and the connection is purely about that hidden animal, not about what the full phrase means.
- CARD SHARK
- A card shark is a skilled or dishonest card player — but the final word SHARK is a large predatory sea creature, and that is the connection the puzzle uses.
- FUN SPONGE
- A fun sponge is a slang term for a killjoy who absorbs all the enjoyment from a situation — the final word SPONGE is a simple sea animal, and that is what matters here.
- GAMMA RAY
- A gamma ray is a high-energy electromagnetic wave produced by radioactive decay — the final word RAY is also a flat, wing-shaped sea creature related to the shark.
- NAVY SEAL
- A Navy SEAL is a member of the United States Navy's elite special-operations force — the final word SEAL is also a marine mammal, and that animal reading is the connection.
