Awhile versus A While

In reviewing the proofread, I saw the correction of ‘awhile’ to ‘a while’ often throughout. I realized I didn’t know when to use which.

According to grammarpartyblog.com . . .

“A while is a noun that means an unspecified amount of time.
Example: It has been a while since the dinosaur played checkers.

Awhile is an adverb that means an unspecified amount of time.
Example: The dinosaur asked her to wait awhile.

How you can tell when to use awhile or a while?

Since awhile is an adverb (a word that describes a verb), you can replace it with another adverb. Let’s use patiently.
Example: The dinosaur asked her to wait patiently.”

Clear as mud?