Looking for today's Connections answer for puzzle #230 of January 27 is easier than yesterday's, and the Connections companion rated this puzzle 26 out of 5 for difficulty

We update our Connections clues and hints daily And if the hints aren't enough, you can see all four solutions 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, #229

There are spoilers for connection 230 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 be able to find the answer to today's connection If not, please continue reading for larger hints Also, if you only want the answer, scroll down further

Now, here's a bigger clue: The answers to today's connection are interspersed with body parts and human characteristics, but don't lump them all together Instead, think of the famous movie that begins in windy Kansas and try not to feel too pained

So what is the answer to today's connection in game #230?

Drum roll please

Wisdom, Courage, Heart Some of today's Connections answers might pass as personality traits that you would list to impress on a dating app However, Ache, Burn, and Sting also describe the emotions one encounters after using the app I could not find the fourth word in my first hypothesis, but it seemed to fit the second one nicely The yellow category "Hurt" is now officially complete

Next, Guard (dog) and Watch (dog) had me thinking of our trusty canine companions, but I wisely moved on, deciding that pet owners would never describe themselves as having a "Home" dog Mind" and "Tend" completed the green category

A tactical press of the shuffle button produced a cyclone, bringing "Brains" and "Courage" next to each other, and I was instantly thrown into the world of Oz with the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion The blue category was followed by "Heart" and "(No Place Like This) Home"

Answers, 2, Wrist, and Mistakes remained, and the combination of mistakes and answers evoked memories of a failed school spelling bee This was especially appropriate given the "silent W" theme of the purple category After wrestling with the answer to today's connection, I smiled wryly as I hit the submit button

I'm reading this late in the day According to Connections Companion, the difficulty level was 36 out of 5

Thanks to a childhood spent watching hours of Looney Tunes reruns, I enjoyed the rare privilege of solving the trickier purple category first today For me, the word Bugs is only followed by "rabbit," so I might as well have been nonchalantly chewing on a carrot while hopping from Bad, Dust, and Honey to complete the category

Glove, Sock, Top Hat, and Boot forced me to consider the relevance of clothing here, but thankfully I took a beat before submitting this foursome as an answer The words Strike and Bat also caught my eye because they led me to the baseball theme, which also included Glove [I entered bat, bases, gloves, strikes, and lost my first life when I was one strike away from striking out Thankfully, like baseball, connections have several chances to strike out

Then I moved on from one famous American pastime to another The seemingly random iron and thimble items made more sense when combined with the aforementioned boots and top hats, because they were the only way to get a good look at the game Of course, these were the original tokens of Monopoly

Remaining are Blow, Lick, Sock, and Strike, terms that sound like something out of Norman Mailer's "The Fight," synonymous with hard hitting With today's connection complete, I am happy to report that there were no strikeouts or knockouts today