Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #464 on September 17, which is easier than yesterday's answer, this puzzle from Connections Companion has a difficulty rating of 28 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 another time zone, I have included a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #463

There are spoilers for connection 464 Only those who want to know the answer to today's connection should read on

Or see our guide to playing NYT Connections

While the Wordle of the Day answer guide recommends the best wordle starting word as a strategy, the Connections answer 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 an even bigger hint: Before you find a shoe pal, get fired up, and think about how to badly misspell some names, think about the congressional leadership

Now, the answer to today's game #464 Connection

Drum roll please

Today was a little easier than yesterday, as announced

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

From there, I grabbed the amps, hype, and psyche and went into the yellow category I had an unfortunate strike on my first whip, but was quick to switch to fire in the yellow category

I had forgotten a bit that the whip was a parliamentary setting position, but I was able to put it together with the chair, leader, and speaker

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

I was momentarily caught up in lumping mics, speakers, and amps together, but for the best of the day, I had no other confident answer

I'm reading this late in the day According to the Connection Companion, this is the Connection answer for game #463, which had a difficulty rating of 32 out of 5

I first struck out with all the food-related clues of the day, guessing “unconventional toppings on pizza,” but quickly recovered by knocking out the yellow category with Chief, Premier, Principal, and Supreme Of course, having missed the easiest connections, the pressure is always on for the remaining categories

Blue was next, which involved a bit of blind luck for me, given that I had never heard pup used in that context, and I grouped it with the other categories on a whim I was familiar with calling sentimental stories Cheese(y), Corn(y), and Mush(y), but it turns out that Pap means “worthless, boring reading, entertainment” What the heck, I learn something new every day

The green category (Cactus, Hedgehog, Mace, and Pineapple) was then solved briskly, with the remaining eight clues revealing the connection In addition, I watched the trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 over the weekend, so I have a little rodent running around in my head

Finally, the purple categories (bottles, graduates, mushrooms, and salaries) baffled me until the connection became clear I always stumble on wordplay categories, and this one was no different