Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #400 of July 15, a little easier than yesterday's answer, this puzzle from Connections Companion has a difficulty rating of 2.4 out of 5.

We update our Connections clues and hints daily. And if the hints are not enough, 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 399.

There are spoilers for Connection #400. Only those who want to know the answer to today's connection should read on.

Or see our guide to playing NYT Connections.

While the Wordle of the Day answer guide recommends the best wordle starting words as a strategy, the Connections answer 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 the answer, scroll down further.

There is a bigger clue: Today's puzzle is all about presentation, both literally and figuratively. Some of the clues may remind you of a card game, but that is a red herring.

Now, the answer to today's game #400 Connection.

Drum roll please.

For the second day in a row, I feel like a genius now that I guessed the purple category on the first try. If "liter" and "pint" were enough to tell me that this was about a liquid, "Fifth" told me that it was a drink where everyone would know their name.

Then came the yellow, but if the Connections staff had thrown in a little more red string, it might have been trickier: Believe and Trust are similar enough to get you on the right path, and Accept （Accept" and "Buy" are the only clues that even seem synonymous.

I admit I stumbled in solving the blue category, getting as far as connecting Bracket, Mount, and Stand, but for some reason Base didn't click until my second or third attempt.

The clue Bluff and Show originally got me thinking about poker.

I'm reading this late in the day. According to Connections Companion, the difficulty was 2.6 out of 5.

Yesterday's puzzle was easy. I started by getting the purple category: at first I thought Mint and Dough might be related, since they are both slang for money, but then I saw Brazil and Pine close together and quickly realized the connection.

The green category was a bit tricky because I had to pull out the dictionary to figure out what Tine meant. Not only did it add a new word to my vocabulary, but the connection to prong and tip became painfully clear. And while Point has several different meanings (especially given today's business-like blue category), this was the only option left that was close to the other meanings.

Blue came next; chewing on the word Business brought to mind the line of work, and Line jumped out, followed by Field and Trade.

With only four words left, the green category was filled in by rote memorization, and I blamed myself for not realizing the connection sooner. I grew up with Pokémon cards long enough to realize that the term is used to describe the grade of a collectible.