Hints for Connections November 4: Today’s NYT Puzzle #877 Answers Revealed

The New York Times Connections puzzle for Tuesday, November 4 (#877) has kept word game lovers busy once again. Today’s challenge offered a clever mix of logic, pop culture, and word associations — but some of the connections were trickier than expected. If you struggled to see how the words tied together, here are all the hints and answers you need to know for today’s NYT Connections.

As always, the daily word grid went live at midnight local time. Players were tasked with sorting 16 words into four groups of four, each linked by a hidden theme. The difficulty ramped up from the simple yellow group to the mind-bending purple one, keeping even the most seasoned “Connectors” guessing until the final reveal.

Today’s NYT Connections Hints and Word List (November 4, #877)

Today’s 16 words were: DOC, AIR, PILOT, LEAF, SHEET, MID, ELECTRIC, SLIDE, ZIP, DRIVE, DIRECT, FILM, TIFF, COAT, RHYTHM, and GUIDE.

To guide players along, the NYT provided subtle clues for each group. Here’s a recap of the official hints for November 4:

• 🟨 Yellow group — Move in the right direction
• 🟩 Green group — Like veneer or skin
• 🟦 Blue group — Descriptive bits that let systems know what’s inside
• 🟪 Purple group — Lead and steel would fit in here

At first glance, many players noticed overlapping ideas like “DRIVE,” “SLIDE,” and “ELECTRIC,” making it easy to form false connections. But a few careful observations revealed the underlying logic.

Connections Answers for November 4 (#877)

Here are the official NYT Connections answers and categories for Tuesday’s puzzle:

• 🟨 Yellow group — Steer (DIRECT, DRIVE, GUIDE, PILOT)
• 🟩 Green group — Thin layer (COAT, FILM, LEAF, SHEET)
• 🟦 Blue group — File extensions (DOC, MID, TIFF, ZIP)
• 🟪 Purple group — ____ guitar (AIR, ELECTRIC, RHYTHM, SLIDE)

The blue group, in particular, gave some players trouble. While “TIFF” might initially bring the Toronto International Film Festival to mind, it’s also a common image file format. Paired with “DOC,” “MID,” and “ZIP,” the pattern became clear — all are file extensions used in computing.

Meanwhile, the purple group played on compound phrases ending with “guitar,” making it one of the more creative wordplay-based categories this week. The yellow and green sets followed more literal logic, aligning with steering and surface-layer concepts respectively.

Player Reactions and Puzzle Insights

Many fans found today’s puzzle to be a mid-level challenge — not the toughest in recent memory, but filled with red herrings that required a few reshuffles. Longtime players appreciated the nostalgic references hidden in the words, from the “ZIP DRIVE” nod to old computer storage to the musical wink with “ELECTRIC SLIDE.”

Players on social media shared their “reverse rainbow” wins — solving in purple, blue, green, and yellow order — while others admitted to tripping up over the overlapping meanings of “FILM” and “DIRECT.” Despite the confusion, most agreed that Puzzle #877 delivered a satisfying balance of difficulty and discovery.

With the November 4 NYT Connections now solved, it’s time to prepare for Wednesday’s challenge. Tomorrow’s grid will arrive right at midnight, ready to test your logic and word association skills once again.

FYI (keeping you in the loop)-

Q1: What were the NYT Connections hints for November 4?

The hints were: steer, thin layer, file extensions, and blank guitar. Each represented a different type of connection in the 16-word grid.

Q2: What were the hardest words in today’s puzzle?

“TIFF” and “MID” caused confusion because they looked unrelated until players realized they were both computer file formats.

Q3: How many guesses do you get in NYT Connections?

Players have three incorrect guesses before the game ends on the fourth wrong attempt.

Q4: What is a reverse rainbow in NYT Connections?

A reverse rainbow means solving the groups from hardest (purple) to easiest (yellow) without any mistakes.

Q5: When is the next NYT Connections puzzle released?

The next puzzle goes live at midnight local time on Wednesday, November 5, 2025.