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NYT Connections July 23 puzzle cleverly fused childhood fears, steak cuts, and wordplay.
The Purple group tested the solvers with clever compounds of, you guessed it, animals.
Real estate terms and spooky myths are provided for satisfying group reveals.
Wednesday’s NYT Connections puzzle is a delightful blend of wordplay, fearsome folklore, fine dining, and subtle misdirection. The July 23 grid came packed with childhood terrors, cuts of steak, real estate lingo, and tricky animal names hidden in plain sight. From BUGBEAR to TOMAHAWK, this one had it all.
This edition of NYT Connections brings a midweek challenge filled with cross-category distractions and cleverly disguised themes. For those looking to decode NYT Connections July 23, scroll through the hints, breakdowns, and answers below.
Every day, 16 seemingly unrelated words appear in NYT Connections. The goal is to put them into four sets of four, with each set linked by a common theme.
The themes might be the blatantly obvious or the cleverly disguised. Difficulty is color-coded:
Yellow – Easiest
Green – Moderate
Blue – Hard
Purple – Trickiest or most wordplay-heavy
Only four incorrect guesses are allowed, so strategy and deduction are key.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle words are:
TOMAHAWK, PHANTOM, GEODUCK, BUGBEAR, ESCROW, SEAHORSE, FLATIRON, MORTGAGE, PORTERHOUSE, BOGEYMAN, APPRAISAL, WOMBAT, HOBGOBLIN, TITMOUSE, CHATEAUBRIAND, INSURANCE
At first glance, these words feel wildly disconnected — mixing meats, monsters, financial terms, and animals. But underneath the surface, clear patterns emerged.
Need a little nudge before diving into the full answers? Here are your color-coded clues for the day:
Yellow — Figures that made bedtime a little scary
Green — Cuts found at the butcher shop
Blue — Buying a house often involves these
Purple — Compound animals (hint: they end in an animal!)
If you need a gentle push in the right direction, try identifying these:
Yellow — BUGBEAR
Green — FLATIRON
Blue — APPRAISAL
Purple — GEODUCK
Here are today’s four groups and their corresponding words:
Dread-Inducing Figures: BOGEYMAN, BUGBEAR, HOBGOBLIN, PHANTOM
Kinds of Steaks: CHATEAUBRIAND, FLATIRON, PORTERHOUSE, TOMAHAWK
Related to Buying a Home: APPRAISAL, ESCROW, INSURANCE, MORTGAGE
Animals Ending in Animal Names: GEODUCK, SEAHORSE, TITMOUSE, WOMBAT
The blue group is unexpectedly simple—words like INSURANCE, ESCROW, and MORTGAGE clearly hinted at real estate. Once APPRAISAL was added, the group came together easily.
The yellow group leans into fear with folklore creatures. BUGBEAR was a strong anchor, and it was only a matter of linking it with HOBGOBLIN, PHANTOM, and BOGEYMAN to finish it.
The trickiest group is purple. Words like GEODUCK and TITMOUSE might not scream “animals ending with animals” at first, but a closer look revealed the theme. SEAHORSE and WOMBAT rounded out the set.
The green group adds some culinary flair to the puzzle. While TOMAHAWK and PORTERHOUSE were recognizable, CHATEAUBRIAND might’ve thrown some players off. Once FLATIRON joined the mix, the theme was clear: these were all premium steak cuts.
NYT Connections July 23 successfully layers themes and plays with linguistic associations. Each group reveals itself with a satisfying click once the logic clicks into place. The purple group stands out with its brilliant use of animal-based compound words.
NYT Connections Today is a treat for lovers of mythology, fine dining, finance, and clever wordplay. The mix of childhood spooks, meaty delights, and double-meaning creatures creates one of the most enjoyable midweek puzzles in recent memory.
