Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle 405 on July 20, the difficulty of this puzzle from the Connections Companion was 26 out of 5, slightly less difficult than yesterday's answer

We update our Connections clues and hints daily And if the hints aren't enough, you can see all four solutions 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, #404

There are spoilers for connection 405 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 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 It's about making the tools work while making it look like you're doing something difficult and easy

So, the answer to today's 404th game connection is

Drum roll please

I guess today's puzzle traps are juice, soda, sweat, and bodily fluids

This led me to come to my senses and find the blue categories in battery, charge, juice, and power, when in fact I did not enter that previous misclassification

I stuck to the sweat form there My grid shifted so that labor and sweat were next to each other The connection was striking, and it was short work to find the effort and the work

Even with this way of shifting the grid, I could have flipped a coin to see which category I would finish first Something fluid, graceful, natural, and smooth formed a small square to the left of the grid

As I've said before, a fun purple category puts a smile on my face in the morning This was cut by Burst, Papa, Mainstream, and Soda I don't agree that pop = mainstream, but I understand what they are trying to do

Enjoy your weekend Hopefully today's puzzle will help you start the day in a good mood

I'm reading this late in the day According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 3 out of 5

I literally filled up my car with gas yesterday, and I immediately got the blue category, if that's what you had in mind Diesel, Plus, Premium, and Regular are all tiers of gasoline that get ripped off at the pumps

The yellow category took longer than it should have, but that's because of the word “STEADY” I had flame, lover, sweetheart, and couldn't find any other connection between these words to try to shift the focus I don't think anyone has ever said “this person is my steady” You “be my steady” That doesn't work, and I wanted them to find another word, like bo or boo

From there, I found all the insulting words; Burn, dig, and jab stood out immediately Slight is correct here, but it seems too passive compared to the other three Again, another word would have been more interesting I would have used slam or roast as examples

My personal goal is to get a purple category by the end of the grid So, while it was a personal disappointment that I couldn't do that, today's purple category is a fun one, followed by words and tables Pool, water, regular, coffee Sometimes I can't see the puzzle, but when I wrap it up, it kinda comes into view