Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #478 from October 1, which is considerably easier than yesterday's puzzle, the Connections companion has a difficulty rating of 36 out of 5 for this puzzle

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, #477

There are spoilers for connection #478 Only read this if you want to know the answer to today's connection

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 the answer, scroll down further

There is a bigger clue In today's puzzle, think about fitness before asking to do the dishes, then think about words related to water, and then before panicking

So, the answer to today's game #478, Connections

Drum roll, please

I got off to a bad start today, trying to come up with a “hair washing” category using conditioner, lather, rinse, and for some reason wave Strike one

But shortly thereafter, I got to the green category via “Health,” “Foam,” “Condition,” and “Shape” under “Fitness”

I've been quibbling lately, and yes, all of these types of water can move fast, but that's not what I had in mind Anyway, I combined Cascade, Current, Rapid, and Wave into Blue

I was still thinking about hair, but I put together a dishwasher cycle of Normal, Rinse, Sanitize, and Quick I don't think I have ever used the quick setting on my dishwasher Has anyone used it?

The yellow categories make sense Bubbling, stewing, sweating, and dizziness are all, shall we say, panicky Still, I hated this grouping, and when I finished the puzzle, I found myself surprisingly flustered I'm not sure why, but I think it's because they are in different states of agitation at best Lazer and tizzy are more manic, I think Stew and sweat signify a more prolonged upset I don't know, but I don't like the term and haven't yet been able to articulate why

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

Today's puzzle was easy for Alyce Starting in the yellow category, she first saw Poach, which she thought might be related to the different ways of making eggs, but then she saw Blanch, Boil, and Steam and realized that the Connections crew had cast on a wider evening than that

The green category came next, and digging into what I had learned in high school English class about what ambergris is, it was easy to make connections to other scent cues like musk, rose, and vanilla

Only the famous Wallace from Wallace and Gromit immediately came to mind, but for some reason my brain immediately thought of the “famous duo” instead of the more obvious “character with a dog” “

Shaggy was the obvious choice, but it took her a second to realize she was barking up the wrong tree before she swooped in on Dorothy and Charlie

Last but not least was today's memorandum, the purple category She said she always fails in the wordplay category, and today's was no different