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 is a real challenge. 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: Condiment for lettuce and toppings.

Green group hint: A person who accompanies someone else, as in a wedding.

Blue group hint: You won't find these everywhere.

Purple group hint: Where players dunk the ball.

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Creamy salad dressings.

Green group: Attendants.

Blue group: Rare things, idiomatically.

Purple group: What "hoops" might refer to.

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 creamy salad dressings. The four answers are blue cheese, Caesar, Green Goddess and ranch.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is attendants. The four answers are court, entourage, retinue and suite.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is rare things, idiomatically. The four answers are black swan, blue moon, perfect storm and unicorn.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is what "hoops" might refer to. The four answers are basketball, earrings, red tape and gymnastics gear.