Looking for the answer to today's Connections puzzle, #482, from October 5, which was more difficult than yesterday's puzzle, with a Connections Companion difficulty score of 32 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, #481

There are spoilers for connection #482 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 to know the answer, scroll down further

Here's a bigger tip: Before you go to the dentist, put lip balm on and don't swab your ears and get a copy in the bathtub while you cook a steak on the grill And don't forget new underwear

Now for the answer to today's game 482 connection

Drum roll please

The roller coaster ride continues And I learned a new word today Fun

Since dinner tonight was on the grill, I was curious about the meat and easily navigated the yellow category with cuts of filet, hanger, skirt, and T-bone steak

I looked at the drills and x-rays and quickly found my way to the dentist's sink and toothbrush

This is where I got stuck because even though I knew what the purple category was, I had no idea how hipster related to any of the remaining seven words

Still, I chose a word that is a general term featuring chapstick (lip balm), jacuzzi (hot tub), q-tip (cotton swab), and xerox (copier)

This left the green categories of underwear types: bikini, g-string, hipster, and thong I had never heard of hipster underwear before (if I had to guess, I might have said briefs) Hipster underwear is underwear worn in the hip area below the waist, has less fabric than briefs, and is generally high-rise and above or just above the waist

I would also argue that g-strings and thongs are the same thing, but apparently g-strings are a type of thong and provide less coverage than thongs, which tend to have a thicker band at the waist I learned this fact from an underwear website called Boody

It's always nice to learn something new and stretch my curiosity muscles when I come across facts I didn't know

I'm reading this late in the day According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 37 out of 5

I felt like I had been living in rated difficulty 4s and 3s for weeks, but today's difficulty of 2 was a piece of cake But I admit that I was second-guessing myself because the puzzles were so difficult

I started with a drop, a dab, and a dash; for some reason I thought the fourth quantity was a dimple, but I suddenly came to myself and put the drop in the green category

Yellow followed nicely with dents, dings, dings and divots

I watch a lot of Disney with my kids, so Daisy, Dale, Doc (Hudson or dwarf), and Dolly were easy to hook

If it were a more difficult puzzle, I would suggest adding words or making up phrases if you get stuck, since today's purple is a group of XX However, today's puzzle was a memorization puzzle that wrapped up the all-D puzzle: delivery date, dinner date, dream date, and due date The only unfortunate thing about this puzzle is that “due date” and “delivery” mean the same thing

Enjoy your weekend