Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #233 from January 30, which is much more challenging than yesterday's, the Connections companion gave this puzzle a difficulty rating of 3.4 out of 5.

We update our Connections clues and hints daily. And if the hints are not enough for you, see the four answers below, along with the category title and related words. In addition, for those of you reading this in a different time zone, I have included a reflection on yesterday's puzzle 232.

There are spoilers for Connection #233. 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 only want to know the answer, scroll down further.

Now for a bigger clue. Treat today's puzzle like the intrepid reporter that you are, exploring the clues, connecting the dots, and opening up the larger story. Remember, form is a curmudgeon, so don't be shy about diving into a nostalgic power-up game to unlock the final headline.

Now, what's the answer to today's game #233 Connection?

Drum roll please.

I spread out the puzzle of today's Connections like the crisp rustle of a fresh morning paper. The Chronicle, The Sun, The Herald, The Star ....... All of them had potential, but I stopped the presses for now to include the Register. [Croissants, bananas, and mushrooms are all quite good. However, the third breakfast item is too continental. I could only see the possibility of bang(-ers) as a companion, and that seemed a bit of a stretch.

Feeling pressure not to slam Bang, Hammer, Pound, and Slam on the keyboard, I found myself creating a yellow category heading for them.

I was still convinced that one of the remaining two categories was a list of newspaper names, but which of the five candidates would fit nicely into Feather, Flower, or Mushroom? Aha. Because I knew I could pick up any of them, just like I could pick up a star in Super Mario World.

When I returned to the newsstand one last time, the Chronicle, Herald, Register, and Sun were waiting to be published." Read them all." I cried as I arranged them in the green category.

Read this late in the day. Here is the Connections answer to game #232, which according to the Connections Companion had a difficulty rating of 2.5 out of 5.

With Valentine's Day just a few weeks away, today's Connections has a lot of romantic questions.

Couple, Pair, Passion, and Love seemed to fit the theme, but I saw Lost Early Life, so not one away; the word Item prompted me to move on to a slightly different theme, but combined with Couple, Pair, Deuce where it remained incorrect, although the fallout was that only one was away. Substituting Deuce for Thing, I finally got to the first category of the day: romantic twosomes.

Having watched the Australian Open final yesterday (well done Janick Sinner), I figured Deuce and Love must be related to tennis, so I completed the, er, set with All (meaning 15-all) and Ad (meaning advantage).

After a brief flirtation with potential project-related themes (Passion, Promote), I zoned in on the marketing theme and completed the yellow category with Pitch, Plug, Promote, and Push.

The last purple category remained Pan, Dragon, Jack, and Passion. Looks like my doctor is right, I need to eat more fruit.