Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #410 on July 25, a little harder than yesterday's answer, this puzzle from Connections Companion has a difficulty rating of 26 out of 5

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, #409

There are spoilers for connection 410 Only those who want to know the answer to today's connection should read on

Or 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 the answer, scroll down further

There is a bigger clue Today's puzzle is about a medium of communication, but I wanted a wrap Oh, maybe there is a gift for you

So, the answer to today's game #410, Connections

Drum roll please

Yesterday's puzzle was easy because it was all trap words, but today's puzzle has two puzzles and one that is a bit infuriating

There are no traps in the yellow category Clay, papyrus, parchment, and wax are all types of writing materials

I got a little caught up in the gift/gift trap, but other than that there is no real match Before I filled the green category with anchors, hosts, moderates, and gifts, I spent a lot of time taking strikes in the blue category I had the talent, the intuition, and the flair Indeed, faculty makes sense Gift is a more appropriate word, especially in this game where colloquialisms are regularly used

After taking strikes in the blue category and becoming increasingly annoyed, I switched to purple and took burritos, gifts, mummies, and sprains Surely those are all things that are wrapped up

I'm writing today's guide an hour or so after solving it, and I still find myself annoyed with the faculty I would rather watch a horror movie with Josh Hartnett and Usher than deal with that word for that category

I'm reading this late in the day According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 24 out of 5

There seems to be a trend this week of puzzles getting easier as the day goes on At first the score was 37, but today it is said to be 24

I spent a lot of time wondering why there were so many traps for easy puzzles and why the difficulty level was so low No wonder so many puzzlers failed today If you get caught up in trying to fit the yellow and purple around the traps without knocking them down first, I think you'll really get tripped up

The first trap I got stuck in was around the blue category

I immediately saw a calf and a kid I immediately saw a fawn and then a cub I was wrong kid can be used because it is a fawn, but the fawn got me kit was there too, so I swapped the two and got the blue category

The second trap for me was per body parts and chicken fillets I was trying to push my shoulders, ribs, chest, and thighs into the category It didn't work Strike 2

Shortly thereafter, I saw a cut of chicken and was able to clear that awkward area

After that, the purple and yellow categories were easier to fill I liked the yellow category, but that was rare

The purple category was also interesting, but by the time I reached barge, jostle, shoulder, and muscle, I was ready to move on from this category