Looking for today's Connections answer, the difficulty level for puzzle #489 on October 12 is exactly the same as yesterday, with a Connections Companion difficulty level of 24 out of 5

We update the 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, #488

There are spoilers for connection 489 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 to know the answer, scroll down further

There is a bigger clue It's a little warmer for a scarf, but never too warm to birdwatch while putting up with a cell phone

Now, what's the answer to today's game #489 Connection?

Drum roll please

This warm Saturday got off to an Audubon start with gobbling and chirping As for the onomatopoeia of birdcalls, we soon saw cooing and hooting

Scarves, shawls, and wraps made it a little more wintery It took me a while to remember that a shawl is basically a poncho without a hood

He was quick to grab the bear and stand up for forgiveness

I don't think I've ever responded aloud to a purple category as I did today The moment the category titles appeared and I saw the words App(le), Goo(gle), Motor(ora), and Sam(sung)

I actually said aloud, “Gross”

Needless to say, I hated the grouping and the title Removing half of the letters, words, and phrases for the purple grouping is still the worst type of category

Are you reading this late in the day? According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 24 out of 5

On this day, the yellow categories were on the diagonal, so I navigated through SAVOR, TREASURE, and VALUE before moving on to RELISH

I tried to put together the gravy, frosting, sauce, and dip categories, but was lazy Oh well

It led to the green categories of dip, dive, splash, and swim for things to do in the pool

From there I could see cheeks and nerves, which led to brass and sauce for bravado It may seem a bit overwhelming, but so it is today

Thus the blue group filled in the memorization with bonuses, extras, frosting, and gravy A gentle puzzle leading into the weekend