Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #505 from October 28, the Connections companion is much easier than yesterday's puzzle. The difficulty level for this puzzle in the Connections Companion is 2.3 out of 5.

We update our Connections clues and hints daily. And if the hints aren't enough, see the four answers below, 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, #504.

There are spoilers for connection 505. Only those who want to know the answer to today's connection should read on.

Or 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.

There is an even bigger clue. Read between the lines, renew your vows, pay off your spell book, and use good manners to solve today's puzzle.

Now, what is the answer to today's game #505 Connection?

Drum roll please.

Today's puzzle took a dive in difficulty, but there were so many red herrings in the yellow and purple categories that I struck out several times trying to connect all the words that might appear in a magic act.

When that stalled, I looked at Pandora, Tidal, and Audible and realized that Shazam was about the app, not the words a magician says after pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Then came the blue category. It had never occurred to me that all of these verbs came from a particular church vow.

I was still convinced that abracadabra and presto must be related, but I was stumped because spelling was the only word left that sounded magical. I read the clue again, saw “Please” and “Thank You,” and finally pinpointed the Connection Crew's cheeky play on words. They are truly magic words.

This left the green category, and it was easy to see the connection between Mean, Signify, Spell, and Suggest.

Are you reading this late in the day? According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 3.3 out of 5.

Yesterday's puzzle was solved first on the easy side, Cute, Fresh, Smart, Wise.

Next, I solved the purple category at the other end of the difficulty spectrum. Something stuck out to me about the plural form of Rascals. What else could there be other than “Little Rascals”? With that in mind, other “little” characters popped up: the Prince, the Mermaid, the Tramp, and so on.

Then came Air, Feeling, Mood, and Quality, followed by words for green.

Thus, today's blue category became a rote entry in which I dug deep into what I had learned in high school science class and managed to explore before it became obvious.