Looking for today's Connections answer, the difficulty level for puzzle #559 on December 21 was up from yesterday's difficulty level of 3 out of 5 for the Connections Companion.

We update our Connections clues and hints daily. And if the hints aren't enough, see the four answers below, along with category names and related words.

In addition, for those of you reading this in another time zone, I have included a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #558.

There are spoilers for Connection 559. 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.

Today's connecting words are: Band, Sleigh, Baloney, Pan, Bunk, Grouch, Circle, Canopy, O, Statuette, Pot, Ring, Murphy, Casserole, Hoop.

If you need a hint to help you solve the groupings, here are each of the themes 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 a bigger clue: Save Sesame Street, after getting out of bed and cooking a ring of eggs.

Now, what's the answer to today's game #559 Connection?

Drum roll please.

Back to 3P. How did you do?

I started with what I thought was the bed category when I first saw Murphy. I know this because my relatives are into putting Murphy beds all over the place. From there I saw Bunk, but for some reason I was distracted by casserole and crock. My thought was cookware, but I didn't really think pots and pans had anything to do with it, so I was looking for something with more of a name. Anyway, I put the pots and pans together with the other two, and they ended up in the green category.

Next I removed the yellow quartet. Band, Circle, Ring, and Hoop.

Finally, back to bed with the canopy and sled. I think the sleigh is a tricky bed, but maybe I'm wrong.

And ended with something named Oscar, Barony, Grouch, O, and Statuette.

Are you reading this in a slower time zone? According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 1.5 out of 5.

It had a 3 rating this week, but on Friday it had a 1.5 rating. How easy was it? The answer is

I looked at cocktails and mixes and started with formulations. The pharma company had the pharmacological thinking that led me to the compounds and solutions.

A shift in the grid such that exclamations, commands, and statements are on the diagonal. Picking up on the question that concludes the green quartet.

My attempt to go down the line here was ruined. I had legitimately thought it was the purple group that was the worst offender. So I grabbed the people I thought were the remaining four and ended up in purple early on. We had the homophones grown (groan), mown (moan), whale (whine), and wine (whine).

Thus we ended up with the broth of crypto, finance, pharma, and technology. I thought pharma was new to me, until I remembered Martin Shkreli, who said, “I'm not a big fan of the pharmaceutical industry, but I've always wanted to be a part of it.