Looking for the answer to today's Connections puzzle #475 from September 28, one of the hardest puzzles we've seen in a while The Connections companion rated this puzzle 42 out of 5 for difficulty

We update our Connections hints and tips 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, #474

There are spoilers for Connection 475 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 solve the groupings, here are each theme in order of difficulty:

These hints should at least give you an idea of how to find the answer to today's connection If not, please continue reading for larger hints Also, if you just want the answer, scroll down further

Here's a bigger hint: while playing the Monopoly game, add controls to some words and embed them in the blend

Now, what is the answer to today's game #475 Connection?

Drum roll please

Well, after yesterday's 36 breeze, today's 42 puts that number to shame

It took a while, but we started with yellow-grabbing hybrids and crosses, which led to blends But I was still reeling a bit from the early strikes when I tried the compound with images of hotels, houses, cruises, and vacation rentals So I left it as is for the right answer

The nice thing about purple is that sometimes the surprisingly difficult grouping categories are just XX [word] or XX [word]

If you get stuck, try adding words or creating phrases and you might find purple That's how I found it today At some point I got to cruise control (especially since cruise ship was clearly out), and from there I quickly clicked on the other three words: birth, quality, and remote

I still wasn't sure about the last two, but lodge, plant, stick, and wedge seemed like safer bets However, I was still thinking lodge and plant, and I was still thinking building

Thus, I ended today with the blue categories of what was in the Monopoly box: hotel, house, deed, and token I would never have gotten there organically The infamous story in our family is when I decided I was done with that awful game and sold all my possessions and items, moved the tokens to the middle of the board and “retired” in the middle of the board Recommendation

I'm reading this late in the day According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 36 out of 5

Looking at today's grid, one wonders how the difficulty of the puzzle is determined Yesterday's 26 was a disaster for me, but I could see that others were sloshing through it

Today I beat it, and even went backwards; is it 36 because I don't know any sci-fi movies, or is it a tricksy word together that might fall into a different category? I'm not sure

I saw Matrix, Dune, and Gravity right off the bat But I knew there was something sci-fi about it Thing and Fly clicked on “The” and got the great films Abyss, Fly, Matrix, and Thing

I didn't take Strike, but I did see Bank, Draft, and Import and Trade as candidates for the banking category It didn't fit at all and felt forced But then I noticed the mound and was thinking about baseball, and the bench and the starter were next to each other, leading to trades and drafts Thus was born fantasy sports I was thinking of regular sports, let's call it that

Then the green category fit nicely with gravity, imports, substance, and weight

Finally, I ended up with the “high ground area” of banks, dunes, hills, and mounds

It was a relief not to have to stare at the grid today