The New York Times Connections
The New York Times Connections

The New York Times' Connections puzzle for Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, sends players back in time. Several words appear to come from the classic "Back to the Future" films but belong to entirely different groups.

The puzzle is Connections game No. 1,250. Players must sort 16 words and phrases into four groups of four based on what they have in common. Each group is color-coded by difficulty, from yellow (easiest) to green, blue and purple (hardest).

Players can make up to four mistakes before the game ends.

Today's 16 words

The words and phrases in Thursday's puzzle are:

GREAT SCOTT, ROCKY ROAD, YOU'RE TOAST, FLUX CAPACITOR, MOONLIGHT SONATA, JIMINY CRICKET, MARTY MCFLY, COMEDY ROAST, DOC BROWN, CHANGE PURSE, ARCTIC CHAR, GOOD HEAVENS, SHIFT DRESS, GLADIATOR SANDALS, HOLY SMOKES and SWING SET.

The big red herring

The most obvious trap is a set of "Back to the Future" references. Doc Brown and Marty McFly are the film's main characters, the flux capacitor is the device that makes time travel possible, and "Great Scott!" is Doc Brown's famous exclamation.

However, those four items do not form a group. "There is no Back to the Future category, as cool as that would be," the gaming site TheGamer warned in its hints.

The other tricky part is that several answers in Thursday's puzzle are two-word phrases. Players need to look at either the first or last word of each phrase.

Hints for each group

For players who want help without seeing the answers:

Yellow: Polite things people say when surprised or shocked. Green: The first word in each phrase suggests something is not staying the same. Blue: Look at the last word of each phrase, and think about the kitchen. Purple: The first word of each phrase is the title of an Academy Award-winning film.

Spoiler warning: The answers are below.

Today's Connections answers

Yellow — "GADZOOKS!": GOOD HEAVENS, GREAT SCOTT, HOLY SMOKES, JIMINY CRICKET

These are all exclamations of surprise that people may use in place of profanity. "Gadzooks" is itself an old-fashioned expression of surprise.

Green — STARTING WITH VARIATIONS: CHANGE PURSE, FLUX CAPACITOR, SHIFT DRESS, SWING SET

Each phrase begins with a word that means change or variation: change, flux, shift and swing.

Blue — ENDING IN WAYS TO COOK THINGS: ARCTIC CHAR, COMEDY ROAST, DOC BROWN, YOU'RE TOAST

Each phrase ends with a cooking method: char, roast, brown and toast.

Purple — STARTING WITH BEST PICTURE OSCAR WINNERS: GLADIATOR SANDALS, MARTY MCFLY, MOONLIGHT SONATA, ROCKY ROAD

Each phrase begins with the title of a film that won the Academy Award for best picture:

"Gladiator" won in 2001. "Marty" won in 1956. "Moonlight" won in 2017. "Rocky" won in 1977.

Why the puzzle was tricky

Thursday's puzzle split the four "Back to the Future" references across three groups. Great Scott landed in the yellow group, flux capacitor in green, Doc Brown in blue, and Marty McFly in purple.

Other overlaps added to the challenge. "Holy smokes" could appear to fit the cooking category because smoking is a cooking method. But in the puzzle it belongs with the exclamations of surprise.

TechRadar's puzzle writer said they first made a mistake by placing HOLY SMOKES in the cooking group, and then wrongly put MOONLIGHT SONATA in the green group before realizing the connection.

"Marty" may also catch players off guard. The 1955 film starring Ernest Borgnine is far less well-known today than "Gladiator," "Rocky" or "Moonlight."

Tips for solving Connections

Puzzle experts recommend several strategies:

Look for red herrings. Connections often includes more than four words that seem to fit a category. Solve the easiest group first. Clearing the yellow group can make the harder groups easier to see. Check both ends of phrases. When a puzzle uses two-word phrases, the connection may lie in the first or last word. Shuffle the board. The game's shuffle button can help players see new patterns.

About Connections

The New York Times launched Connections in beta on June 12, 2023. The puzzle is edited by Wyna Liu and has become one of the most popular games in The New York Times Games lineup, alongside Wordle and Strands.

Each puzzle has one category at each difficulty level. A new puzzle is released daily at midnight local time.

Connections game No. 1,251 will be released on Friday, Nov. 13.