Looking for today's Connections answer, the difficulty level for puzzle #488 on October 8 was a whopping 24 out of 5 for the Connections Companion, down from yesterday's puzzle

We update our Connections clues and hints daily And if the hints aren't 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, #487

There are spoilers for Connections #488 Only those who want to know the answer to today's Connections 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 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 Put in your bonuses before you play pool, and think about your value before you get a little bold

Now, what's the answer to today's game #488 Connection?

Drum roll please

The day began with the yellow categories of “Taste,” “Treasure,” and “Value” on the diagonal

I made a lazy strike trying to put together the gravy, frosting, sauce, and dip categories Oh well

It led to the green categories of dip, dive, splash, and swim for things to do in the pool

From there I could see cheeks and nerves, which led to brass and sauce for bravado It seemed a bit overwhelming, but that's how I feel today

Thus the blue group filled in the memorization with bonuses, extras, frosting, and gravy A gentle puzzle leading into the weekend

Are you reading this late in the day? According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 34 out of 5

It was probably harder than rated because every word in the grid is three letters

I started by looking at Elf and Saw, wandered the grid to find Her, and got stuck I had forgotten all about the Tom Hanks classic Big, but I eventually got there

I saw ill and rad up close, but then it was bad; I chose hip for cool, since I didn't particularly care for the 80s Strike I hastily swapped hip for fly and got the green group

I jumped and looked at the body parts, but didn't trust that they were really in the yellow category Finally, I got the arms, eyes, hips, and legs here

Thus we arrive at “The Sound of Music” and “Do Re Mi” featuring do, fur, saw, and tee I always forget that this song is from this movie because I don't like the movie I always forget that this song belongs to this movie because I don't like this movie