NYT Connections #773 is the puzzle for Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Its four groups are dread-inducing figures, kinds of steaks, terms related to buying a home, and animals ending with animal names or animal terms. Hints come first, followed by the complete spoiler-marked solution.
NYT Connections puzzle #773 was published on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. The 16-word grid divides into four groups: frightening figures, steak cuts, home-buying terms, and animals whose names end with another animal name or animal term.
If you are still solving, start with the hints below and stop before the spoiler section. The complete categories and answers appear farther down the page.
How to play NYT Connections
Connections gives you 16 words and asks you to find four groups of four related words. Select four words and submit them as a group. You can make up to four incorrect guesses before the puzzle ends.
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The groups are commonly associated with difficulty colors: yellow is generally the most straightforward, followed by green and blue, while purple often depends on wordplay, a less familiar meaning, or an unusual connection. The daily game resets at midnight in the player’s local time zone, so “today” can refer to different puzzles depending on when and where you are reading. This guide is specifically about Wednesday, July 23, 2025, game #773.
The 16 words in Connections #773
- TOMAHAWK
- PHANTOM
- GEODUCK
- BUGBEAR
- ESCROW
- SEAHORSE
- FLATIRON
- MORTGAGE
- PORTERHOUSE
- BOGEYMAN
- APPRAISAL
- WOMBAT
- HOBGOBLIN
- TITMOUSE
- CHATEAUBRIAND
- INSURANCE
Hints for NYT Connections #773
These clues move from general to specific. If you want to preserve more of the challenge, read only the first hint for each color.
Yellow hint
Look for scary or threatening figures from fiction, folklore, nightmares, or frightening stories.
Green hint
These are names associated with cuts or styles of steak.
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Blue hint
These terms can appear during the mortgage and home-buying process, from valuation through financing and closing.
Purple hint
Each word is an animal name that can be split so it ends with another animal name or animal-related term.
Stronger category clues
- Yellow: Dread-inducing figures.
- Green: Kinds of steaks.
- Blue: Related to buying a home.
- Purple: Animals ending with animals.
Warning: spoilers below. The next sections reveal the categories and all 16 answers for NYT Connections #773.
NYT Connections #773 answers for July 23, 2025
Yellow: DREAD-INDUCING FIGURES
BOGEYMAN, BUGBEAR, HOBGOBLIN, PHANTOM
Each of these words describes a frightening, threatening, or fear-inducing figure. The bogeyman is a legendary figure used to frighten children; a bugbear is a persistent source of fear or annoyance; a hobgoblin is a mischievous or frightening folkloric creature; and a phantom can be a ghost or another frightening apparition.
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CHATEAUBRIAND, FLATIRON, PORTERHOUSE, TOMAHAWK
These are all steak-related terms. Flat iron, porterhouse, and tomahawk are familiar steak names, while Chateaubriand is also used as a steak-related culinary term.
TOMAHAWK is a deliberate distraction because the word can also refer to a weapon. FLATIRON may likewise look like the name of an object or place before its food-related meaning becomes apparent.
Blue: RELATED TO BUYING A HOME
APPRAISAL, ESCROW, INSURANCE, MORTGAGE
These four words belong to different parts of the home-buying process. An appraisal estimates a property’s value, a mortgage provides financing, insurance protects against specified risks, and escrow involves holding money or documents through part of the transaction and closing process.
The connection is deliberately broad: the words cover valuation, financing, protection, and transaction administration rather than one single step in purchasing a home.
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Purple: ANIMALS ENDING WITH ANIMALS
GEODUCK, SEAHORSE, TITMOUSE, WOMBAT
This is the wordplay group. Split the animal names into parts and each one ends with another animal name or animal term:
| Answer | Wordplay |
|---|---|
| GEODUCK | GEODUCK |
| SEAHORSE | SEA-HORSE |
| TITMOUSE | TIT-MOUSE |
| WOMBAT | WOM-BAT |
GEODUCK is the biggest trap in this category. Its unusual spelling can make it look invented, but it is an actual animal name. Once it is recognized as ending in “duck,” it fits the same pattern as seahorse, titmouse, and wombat.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Complete answer grid
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Dread-inducing figures | BOGEYMAN, BUGBEAR, HOBGOBLIN, PHANTOM |
| Green | Kinds of steaks | CHATEAUBRIAND, FLATIRON, PORTERHOUSE, TOMAHAWK |
| Blue | Related to buying a home | APPRAISAL, ESCROW, INSURANCE, MORTGAGE |
| Purple | Animals ending with animals | GEODUCK, SEAHORSE, TITMOUSE, WOMBAT |
The trickiest connection in puzzle #773
The purple group is likely to cause the most hesitation because it depends on how the words are written rather than on what the animals have in common biologically. SEAHORSE, TITMOUSE, and WOMBAT may reveal the pattern once placed together, but GEODUCK is less familiar and has an unusual-looking name.
There are also tempting crossovers elsewhere. TOMAHAWK can suggest a weapon instead of a steak, and several words in the home-buying group are ordinary terms that do not immediately announce a shared category. A practical solving approach is to remove the clearest real-world group first—APPRAISAL, ESCROW, INSURANCE, and MORTGAGE—then identify the steak cuts. The remaining frightening figures and animal wordplay become easier to separate. This is a suggested strategy based on the grid, not an official solving order.
Keep playing after Connections #773
If you enjoy solving Connections away from a screen, Puzzle Mania!: Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Minis and More is a related physical puzzle book that includes Connections alongside other New York Times Games formats. It is a general practice and gift option, not a claim that this exact archived puzzle appears in the book. Check the current edition and availability before buying.
The Bottom Line
The answers for NYT Connections #773 on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, are: BOGEYMAN, BUGBEAR, HOBGOBLIN, PHANTOM; CHATEAUBRIAND, FLATIRON, PORTERHOUSE, TOMAHAWK; APPRAISAL, ESCROW, INSURANCE, MORTGAGE; and GEODUCK, SEAHORSE, TITMOUSE, WOMBAT.
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