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 toughy. The purple category requires you to see four similar words buried in other words. 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: Color of this category.

Green group hint: Think 8-ball.

Blue group hint: Their office is the sea.

Purple group hint: Add a letter.

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Things that are yellow.

Green group: Billiards terms.

Blue group: Slang for a sailor.

Purple group: Kinds of wood plus "s."

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 things that are yellow. The four answers are butter, Pikachu, rubber duck and school bus.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is billiards terms. The four answers are break, cue, pocket and rack.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is slang for a sailor. The four answers are jack, salt, sea dog and tar.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is kinds of wood plus "s." The four answers are sash (ash), soak (oak), spine (pine) and steak (teak).

Toughest Connections puzzles

We've made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they'll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included "things you can set," such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included "one in a dozen," such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included "streets on screen," such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included "power ___" such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included "things that can run," such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.