Looking for the answer to today's Connections puzzle #465 Connections on September 18, which is 3 more than yesterday's solution, this puzzle from Connections Companion had a difficulty rating of 32 out of 5

Every day we update with clues and hints to help you find the four answers And if the hints are not 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 have included a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #464

There are spoilers for connection 465 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 just want the answer, scroll down further

Here's a bigger hint: If you're an anime fan, remember the dog before you drink your tea Then sit outside the house or send up a reel

Now, what's the answer to today's game #465 connection?

Drum roll please

Today was interesting, or rather fun

I recognized Stoop and Porch right away, so I started in the yellow category Decks and gardens were easy to pick from there

For a moment, I wasn't trying to include bloopers, but I saw highlights and sizzle Other than that, I arrived at bloopers and demos for reels and blues, which didn't really fit the categories I had put together

I took a very silly strike in the purple category, which came in third I realized that the category was Cartoon Dog minus the Y in the alphabet, so I immediately had Goof(y), Snoop(y), and Droop(y) For some insane reason, however, I tried to include Droop in the group, and even though I had already hidden Droop in the list, I had Droop Dog in my mind

After that moment, I dropped the dope for Lad to get Lad(y)

The green category was obvious early on with info, dish, and scoop, but I had never read the inside scoop definition of dope before In my mind, dope means drag (especially weed), cool, stupid, or covered-up (which I think is an artful thing to do)

Oxford also means “information on a subject,” “drugged,” or “impure to semiconductors”

It's always nice to learn a little something new

I'm reading this late in the day According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 28 out of 5

Today was a little easier than yesterday, as predicted

I started the grid by first looking at two different shoes: pumps and slides After that, flats and mules were easy to find in the green category

From there, I grabbed the amps, hype, and psyche and entered the yellow category I got an unlucky strike when I first whipped in, but was quick to switch to the yellow category fire

I forgot a bit that whip was a position in the Congress setting, but I was able to put together a chair, leader, and speaker

Purple was cute with Doug, Matt, Mike, and Pete Purple can be tricky because of the variety of words available in other categories

I was momentarily caught up in putting mics, speakers, and amps together, but no other answer convinced me that today was the best day