Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #501 from October 24, which is much harder than yesterday's puzzle, the Connections companion rated this puzzle 3.5 out of 5 for difficulty.

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 another time zone, I have included a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #500.

There are spoilers for Connection 501. Only those who want to know the answer to today's Connections 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:

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 a bigger clue: think of the NY Times table of contents, fold origami, practice your French, and check out the show.

Now, what is the answer to today's game #501, Connections?

Drum roll please.

I immediately recognized the purple category with adieu, belle, and temps, but I just couldn't remember the other French words. So I moved on.

The first grouping I completed was yellow because I put together slate, program, and schedule before finding the bill.

The airplane and crane were clues to the folding idea of blue. The fan was easy, and it took me a while to remember the fortune. Do children still make fortunes? I hope so.

I also looked at the newspaper clues, and news, cooking, and games came to mind immediately, but audio had been wary until this point. audio is not a false homonym in French, I think, but pain is.

I had completely forgotten that pain is the French word for bread.

Anyway, the French words were adieu, bell, pain, and temps (meaning weather, but I think it has other meanings too).

Today's puzzle was one that always seemed to be one off from the correct answer. So.

I'm reading this late in the day. According to Connections Companion, the difficulty was 2.8 out of 5.

Welcome to Connections puzzle #500, which isn't quite as long as Wordle, which is now in the 1200s, but still, it's amazing how far we've come.

Now, how did the Connections crew treat us at #500?

I think some people look at this puzzle and finish it as fast as they tap the letters. I think some people will look at this puzzle and finish it just as quickly as they tap the words.

I was the latter type and looked at the puzzle blankly. From it came Green Goblin (I'm famous for Spiderman), Green Salad, and Green Thumb.

Then Yellow Cab, Yellow Jacket, Yellow Journalism (most headlines these days), and Yellow Pages (which still exists).

A coin flip, but first we saw “Purple Haze”, followed by “Purple Prose”, “Purple Rain”, and “Purple Heart”. Haze” by Jimi Hendrix and ‘Rain’ by Prince. Nevertheless, these are fairly well-known singles.

Finally, they closed with Blue Jay, Blue Jeans, Blue Moon, and Blue Whale.

Like I said, it was a very cute puzzle, and once it clicked, it was fun to solve.

500 more puzzles to go.