Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #444 from August 28, a little harder than yesterday's answer, this puzzle from Connections Companion has a difficulty rating of 37 out of 5

We update our Connections clues and hints daily And if the hints aren't 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've included a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #443

There are spoilers for connection #444 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 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

Here's a bigger clue: put an end to what your toddler might have before you run around the park and swing a rope around thinking about Dennis Miller

Now, what's the answer to today's game #444 Connection?

Drum roll please

The day began with a strike as we assembled the monkey bars, slide, teeter totter, and tether ball I traded the tetherball for a swing for a yellow hat

I wasn't looking for anything beyond the string as a category, but I did get a pendulum, teeter totter, tetherball, and yo-yo

The purple category continued with (baby) blues, boomers, steps, and teeth I first looked at teeth and step and from there combined blue and boomer

The blue category makes sense with what I would describe as dry: dessert, humor, martini, teasotaller, etc

This is difficult and it took a little time to make some connections, but nothing feels outlandish like a difficult puzzle

Are you reading this late in the day? According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 34 out of 5

I'm not going to lie, I've never been more confused than when I put the Clippers, Thunder, Heat, and Magic together for an instant strike Turns out it was an obvious trap

After moving on from that strike, I started with Heat, looked at Fire and Spice, and soon found a kick in the green category

Yellow quickly followed with thunder, boom, crash, and roar

I was trying to put together a nail salon connection with clippers, gel, brushes, and sets when I took another hit It didn't work

Somehow, that brought me to baseball cards, then magic, sets, and tarot There is a card game called sets, and you could say card sets, but I don't like that term for this connection

Blue became a rote fill with brushes, capes, clippers, and gels like you would find in a barbershop