Looking for the answer to today's Connections puzzle of the day, the difficulty of puzzle #431 for August 15 is a big leap from yesterday's solution The Connections Companion rated this puzzle 32 out of 5 for difficulty

We update our Connections clues and hints daily And if the hints are not enough, you can see all four solutions along with the category title and related words In addition, for those of you reading this in another time zone, we have included a discussion of yesterday's puzzle #430

There are spoilers for connection #431 Only read this if you want to know the answer to today's connection

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, 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 hint: perhaps add the word salary in front of some words, look for your mate, and consider a few bad beers while considering the breadth of the project

Now, what's the answer to today's Game #430 Connection?

Drum roll please

I say this one took three strikes, but I think many people will find it easier than they think, despite the much higher difficulty level

I don't know about myself, but I found the blue category first, then Sierra, Bud, Natty (Natty Ice would be a better fit), and Stella

Trying to put together a green category, I took a strike here I got stuck on Pal

Sometimes when you're struggling, it's best to pause the category you're working on and try somewhere else I did so and soon found the yellow category

It was Extent, Range, Reach, Scope

Next I fell into the purple category because I ignored the green words, which I knew were correct For me, the words “hit paydirt” came to mind From there it was easy to find paycheck, pay pal, and pay phone

Finally, there was green for complement, match, mate, and partner

Are you reading this late in the day? According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 24 out of 5

Sometimes a trap is more interesting than its answer

I spent a minute trying to find the Disney connection, trying to connect Mickey, Daisy, Guff, and maybe Jasmine or Buzz Obviously it didn't work, and I abandoned this before I could get a strike

Guff gave me gaff, flub, and boo-boo for the yellow blunder

I stuck with Disney and put on daisies, jasmine, petunias, and poppies

Today I went down the line, which always satisfies me I saw pollination, buzzing, and thread as I put together groups of flowers The dancing reminded me that bees communicate with a series of “dances” to indicate the location of flowers, other bees, and predators Cool

I'm not a Yankees fan, but you should have seen the Yankees legends coming I'm hooked on Disney Meanwhile, good luck Orioles! As of this writing, it is the Orioles who lead the AL East over the Yankees