Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #447 on August 31, the Connections answer is significantly less difficult than yesterday's answer, with the Connections companion rating this puzzle at 29 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 another time zone, I have included a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #446

There are spoilers for connection #447 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

There is a bigger clue Start with the vegetables before you look at the pennies

Now for the answer to today's game #447 connection

Drum roll please

Yesterday's 39 was one of the hardest puzzles I've solved in a while, but I was able to finish it Today it was down to 29 and I could see it was a struggle

For starters, there were Chef, Garden, Greek, Wedge and Salad types

Next, I found the green categories that make up the tree: bark, crown, rings, and roots

This led to the yellow category of newspaper columns, which included arts, business, comics, and sports Perhaps it is shameful that I, who worked for a newspaper and followed the industry regularly, did not notice this Oh well

I spent a lot of time trying to understand Monticello with this puzzle, but I couldn't figure out why Thomas Jefferson's slave plantation was here It didn't ring a bell as to why Thomas Jefferson's slave plantation was here

Read this in a slower time zone According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 39 out of 5

Since I started making the Connections Guide, I have never seen a puzzle marked as difficulty 4 or 5 Today's 39 is the best I've seen Let's see if I can get there

I always feel bad when I get the yellow category first, as I did today, in the difficult Connections Anyway, today's yellow shined with diamonds, glitter, gold, and sequins

After finding the green category third, the blue was actually easier to find today However, I wasn't thinking of the wonders of the ancient world, as I found gardens, lighthouses, pyramids, and temples So I'm not that far off

I got stuck on cubes, columns, and boxes and had a couple of strikes here as I was trying to find a connection to math

A little late for the Olympics, but the Paralympics just started, I got stuck on boxes and started -ing words like Dive(ing), Fence(ing), and Row(ing) It seemed more difficult than the blue category

The purple row seemed surprisingly obvious once I unearthed (ice)cream, (ice)cubes, (ice)machines, and (ice)storms Frankly, I feel like I should have gotten that one earlier rather than messing around with the green category

I don't know if this 39 felt harder than the other puzzles in the connection, but it gave me pause I do wonder what will happen when it finally gets to a 4 or 5 difficulty level