Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #480 on October 3, which is considerably easier than yesterday's puzzle, this puzzle from Connections Companion has a difficulty rating of 37 out of 5

We update our Connections clues and hints daily And if the hints aren't enough, you can see all four answers along with the category title and related words In addition, for those of you reading this in a different time zone, I've included a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #479

There are spoilers for connection #480 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 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

Here's a bigger hint: Drink a drink before you give the plant any love Then pair some items and lose the first letter to find the insect

Now, what is the answer to today's game #480 Connection?

Drum roll please

Second to third place

Surprisingly, it felt as easy today as it did yesterday

To get things started, we grabbed juice, milk, punch, soda drinks and yellow groups

Then we fertilized, potted, pruned, watered and tended to the plants

As always, I really dislike the letter-carrying category, so I was in a bit of trouble until I considered a pair of skis and socks I picked up the earbuds and bookends after the pants strike

From there, I was able to make a memorization entry with the purple bug, minus the first letter As a result, they got (B) lice, (P) ants, (S) mites, and (S) ticks

Are you reading this late in the day? According to Connections Companion, the difficulty was 28 out of 5

After nearly a week of puzzles with a difficulty of 35 or higher, and at least three puzzles with a difficulty of 40 or higher, today I was down with a difficulty of 28

And I realized this as I was able to get through today's puzzle fairly quickly

I could see Octopus and Shiva right away and was looking for other multi-armed options

I had a casino mindset and saw opportunity and gamble Bets and risks were pretty quick to fill the yellow groups

Green was easy to fill with julienne, slice, dice, and cube

I had forgotten that De Niro was in the Joaquin Phoenix Joker movie, but I didn't care to see that movie either So

I forgot to mention yesterday that for those who love the real beginning of the Halloween season, happy spooky season