The NYT Connections answers today, November 12, 2026 (#1250), are ‘Gadzooks!’, starting with variations, ending in ways to cook things, and starting with Best Picture Oscar winners. Every tile has two words, but three groups depend on only one half of each phrase.
Today’s answers, by colour group:
Yellow: ‘Gadzooks!’
GOOD HEAVENS
GREAT SCOTT
HOLY SMOKES
JIMINY CRICKET
Green: Starting with variations
CHANGE PURSE
FLUX CAPACITOR
SHIFT DRESS
SWING SET
Blue: Ending in ways to cook things
ARCTIC CHAR
COMEDY ROAST
DOC BROWN
YOU’RE TOAST
Purple: Starting with Best Picture Oscar winners
GLADIATOR SANDALS
MARTY MCFLY
MOONLIGHT SONATA
ROCKY ROAD
Thursday’s board invites a film-based mistake. GREAT SCOTT, FLUX CAPACITOR, DOC BROWN and MARTY MCFLY suggest Back to the Future, yet those four tiles belong to four different solved groups. Treat that shared reference as a distraction rather than a submission.
Hints: yellow contains expressions of surprise. For green, inspect the first word for a kind of change. Blue depends on the final word and something you could do in a kitchen. Purple begins with titles of films that won the Best Picture Oscar.
Yellow works through the meaning of each whole expression. The other three groups require a different reading. CHANGE, FLUX, SHIFT and SWING all suggest variation, even though purses, dresses and playground equipment do not belong to one obvious category.
For blue, isolate CHAR, ROAST, BROWN and TOAST. ARCTIC CHAR names a fish, but the useful connection is the cooking verb at its end. DOC BROWN supplies another cooking action while also helping to set the film-reference trap.
Purple uses GLADIATOR, MARTY, MOONLIGHT and ROCKY as film titles. You do not need a connection between sandals, a sonata and a dessert: the opening words do the work. A practical route through this board is to separate each phrase into its two words before testing a group, then check whether the relationship consistently uses beginnings, endings or whole expressions.
For an earlier puzzle, revisit our November 10 Connections answers or explore our Word Games coverage.
