Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle No. 245 of February 11, a little easier than yesterday's, this puzzle from the Connections companion has a difficulty rating of 2.7 out of 5.

We update our Connections clues and hints daily. And if the hints aren't enough, you can see all four answers along with the category title and related words. In addition, for those of you reading this in another time zone, I have included a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #244.

There are spoilers for connection #245. Only those who want to know the answer to today's connection should read on.

Alternatively, see our NYT Connections How to Play Guide for tips on how to solve the puzzle without our help.

While today's wordle solution guide recommends the best wordle starting words as a strategy, the Connections solution depends on identifying the categories that are connected from the 16 words. The difficulty of each category is represented by a color, with yellow being the easiest grouping and purple the most difficult. Hints are helpful as the answer is displayed after four wrong guesses.

If you need a hint to help you solve the groupings, here are each theme in order of difficulty:

If you read these hints, you should at least find the answer to today's connection. If not, please continue reading for larger hints. Also, if you just want the answer, scroll down further.

Now for a bigger clue. There are many words in today's Connections that require sea legs. Let's not get lost in thinking about what we use to sail the seas and who we hire as our captain.

Now, what is the answer to today's game #245, Connections?

Drum roll please.

In a rare turn of events, we knocked off the trickiest purple category before the others.

When I combined Auto, Demo, Pluto, and Nemo, my only thought was that the last letter was common and the sounds it produced were similar. But when I was informed that there was only one more, I looked a little closer. The first three can of course be used with "-cracy" to describe a system of governance, but as far as I know a nemocracy is not a government with a captain at the helm. However, the Bureau(cracy) does work well. Purple is complete.

With Jules Verne's famous sailor already in mind, I found Hook and Morgan as the other two famous captains. Needless to say, Captain America completed the set and became the guest list for the charming dinner party. [Herman Melville, in "The White Whale," describes the sea as like "cats made of fireplace stone leaning against gunwales and purring." And then there is the monotonous sound of the yellow category: Buzz, Drone, Hum, Purr.

Only barges, dories, squaws, and sloops remained. For land-based people, the theme was all too obvious. Of course, these are the types of boats. They sailed and anchored.

You are reading this in a slow time zone. According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 3.2 out of 5.

Today's Connections was like a busy word pet store with all kinds of critters and creatures. There was no way we could decide which animals to take home, so we had to trim the herd first.

I ignored the soft chirps and gentle neighs and went straight to the gossipy birds section. Along with canaries, finks, and rats, I found the yellow category.

I felt like Ace Ventura: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as I made my way to the supplies section, which was crammed with "Stuff," "Jam," "Squeeze" and "Pack." Obviously, I thought they were candidates to be combined into one category, and I was right.

Then my winning streak hit a snag. Puzzles tortured me with partial matches that didn't make sense. Dragons, fire, mountains ...... They seemed to allude to a mythical landscape, but I could not find a fourth that would complete the story.

I rearranged the words in my head, looking for connections. Butter, fire, spread. I was about to butter my bread with that thought process. I took a deep breath, and then it hit me. Fire (fried), Dragon (fried), Horse (fried), and Butter (fried) were the creatures in the air that completed the purple category. [Remaining were the Triangle, the Cow, the Mountain, and the Cat. What in the world is the connection? Is it a poem, a song, or a picture book? It was only with the encouragement of my wife, a yoga enthusiast, that the answer fell into place. They all seem to be yoga poses. Cow. That's right. Well then,

with this revelation, the last category was distorted into place and today's tumultuous trip to the pet store was over.