Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle 404 on July 19, the difficulty level for this puzzle on Connections Companion was 3 out of 5, a slight decrease in difficulty compared to yesterday's answer

We update our Connections clues and hints daily If the hints are not enough for you, we have also included the solutions to all four puzzles, the category names, 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, #403

There are spoilers for connection #404 Only read this if you want to know the answer to today's connection

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, 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

Here's a bigger clue:

Now, what is the answer to today's game #404 connections?

Drum roll please

I literally filled up my car with gas yesterday, and I guess I had that on my mind, but I immediately got the blue category Diesel, Plus, Premium, and Regular are all tiers that get priced out when you fill up

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 the purple category by the end of the grid So while it was a personal disappointment that I didn't make it, today's purple category was a fun one, followed by words and tables Pool, water, regular, coffee Sometimes you can't see them, but I did discover a few as I wrapped up the puzzle

I'm reading this late in the day According to Connections Companion, the difficulty was 32 out of 5

Surprisingly, today's puzzle was solved quickly, despite the much higher difficulty level

In the yellow category, I found Plaza, Square, and Court first I couldn't find any yards, so I tried a round first Strike one The mistake was quickly rectified But I thought if I could do this mistake again, the round would really feel right

When I did the green category, I wasn't thinking about boxing To me, those four words-bout, contest, match, and round-have all become common sports terms Still, it worked

Did I get two strikes in a row, trying to match the fire and sparkle with the dazzle, flash, glamour, and ritz? Yes, I did I still think that sparkle was the more obvious choice (an entirely different category, perhaps fireworks)

If you are looking at this blog, the purple category is not as irritating as yesterday's poor grouping

No problem I don't use emojis, smiley faces, or thumbs ups Sometimes the purple category needs to be eliminated by process