Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #549 from December 11, the lowest Connections answer to date. The Connections companion rated this puzzle 1 out of 5 for difficulty.

We update our Connections clues and hints daily. And if the hints are not enough, see the four answers below, along with the category name 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 #548.

There are spoilers for connection #549. Only read this if you want to know the answer to today's connection.

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.

Today's connecting words include: hairspray, rosebud, Pokemon, primates, Xanadu, jazzercise, Ketchum, snow globe, Paralympics, paypal, paradise, Wikipedia, Seventh Heaven, salad dressing, magic 8 ball and Shangri-La.

If you need a hint to help you solve the groupings, here are each theme in order of difficulty:

These hints should at least help you find the answer to today's connection. If not, continue reading for larger hints. Also, if you only want the answer, scroll down further.

Here's a bigger clue: Think of an oasis, shake it, call a friend, and put the words together.

Now, the answer to today's game #549, Connection.

Drum roll, please.

For a little backstory, I always start this guide by checking out the Connections Companion. Today's is a rating of 1. I don't think I've ever seen that number in a Connections rating. Maybe 1.8, but no less. I was shocked.

I'm not sure why this puzzle is rated 1 compared to any other puzzle I've seen, but I solved it fairly quickly.

I started with the yellow one because it had Shangri-La and Xanadu. I saw Shangri-La and Xanadu, so I started with yellow.

I saw Magic Eight Ball and Hairspray and figured they were going for the shake, so I went with Snow Globe and Salad Dressing.

At this point I was thinking a bit too much and didn't immediately recognize the portmanteau of blue groupings. Jazzercise solved that problem and led me to the Paralympics, Pokemon (Pocket Monster for those who don't know), and Wikipedia.

Thus we came to have ket (buddies), pay (mates), pre (friends), and rose (buds).

Was it 1? I'm not sure, but it is interesting to see what one thinks of 1 as opposed to 3 or 4.

I'm reading this late in the day. According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 3.8 out of 5.

I admit I struggled today because I kept looking at the beginning of the connections and noticed nothing there. For example, when I saw Cruise and Touchdown, I thought of Tom (Tom Cruise and “Touchdown” Tom Brady). I had a lot of small two-term groups. In football terms, I was thinking of touchdowns, dabs, and possible fumbles.

My day began in earnest with the yellow category. I first found the names and labels. The call went well, but it took me a while to click on the dub because I was thinking of the dub as winning slang for “taking the dub.”

Root and rummage stuck in my mind. I knew a fumble would mean a more hapless appearance than the other three.

Cruise, takeoff, taxiing, and touchdown finally knocked Green out of the category. I was stuck on football, which delayed my thinking here.

And purple, the purple grouping of words minus letters or groups of letters, is my least favorite style. There is (F)landland, (B)olivia, (I)ran, and (R)wanda. Instead, I look at the word as it is on the page to see how it connects to the other words in the puzzle. That is my problem. Perhaps you can solve it easier than I can.