Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today's NYT Connections puzzle features a mix of difficulties. For me, the purple category was easy today, but the blue and green ones were tougher. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today's Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Like a double agent.

Green group hint: Ambiance that surrounds you.

Blue group hint: Ripple is another word that could be in this category.

Purple group hint: Freedom of the ____.

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Backstabber.

Green group: Aura.

Blue group: Kinds of chain reaction "effects."

Purple group: ____ press.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today's Connections answers?

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is backstabber. The four answers are Judas, snake, traitor and turncoat.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is aura. The four answers are air, impression, manner and quality.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is kinds of chain reaction "effects." The four answers are butterfly, domino, ripple and snowball.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is ____ press. The four answers are bench, drill, French and printing.

Quick tips for Connections

#1: Say the clue words out loud, pausing before and after each. That helps you hear the words in the context of a phrase. The Connections editors love to group words together that are used in similar phrasing, like ____ Up.

#2: Don't go for the obvious grouping. These editors are smart. Once, they offered SPONGE, BOB, SQUARE and PANTS in the same puzzle. None of those words were in the same category. If you like, hit the "shuffle" button to give yourself a different perspective on the words.

#3: Break down any compound words and look for similarities. "Rushmore" was once in a puzzle where the connection was that each word started with the name of a rock band.