The NYT Connections puzzle for Tuesday, July 22, 2025, is game #772. The 16 words divide into four groups: words meaning sassiness, verbs meaning mitigate, visual patterns, and words that can come before PIE.
Important date note: this is the archived July 22, 2025 puzzle—not a July 22, 2026 edition.
Spoiler warning: The hints appear first, followed by the complete word groups and explanations. Stop reading before the answer section if you are still solving.
Hints for Connections #772
Try these clues in order. They move from the yellow group, generally the most accessible, toward the purple group, which is usually the trickiest.
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- Yellow: A word for talking back or being insolent.
- Green: Verbs meaning to make something less severe or intense.
- Blue: Repeating visual arrangements or designs.
- Purple: Each word can precede PIE.
The 16 words
Here is the complete grid for puzzle #772:
- CHESS
- CHEEK
- WHOOPIE
- CUSHION
- TEMPER
- CHECKERS
- HUMBLE
- ATTITUDE
- LIP
- SOFTEN
- HONEYCOMB
- CUTIE
- DAMPEN
- CAMO
- MOUTH
- STRIPES
NYT Connections #772 answers
Below are the groups in the usual difficulty order, from yellow through purple.
Yellow: SASSINESS
- ATTITUDE
- CHEEK
- LIP
- MOUTH
All four words can describe insolence or backtalk in the relevant senses. Someone with “attitude” may be disrespectful, while “cheek,” “lip,” and “mouth” can each refer to answering back.
Green: MITIGATE
- CUSHION
- DAMPEN
- SOFTEN
- TEMPER
These verbs can mean to reduce, moderate, or lessen the force of something. You can cushion a blow, dampen enthusiasm, soften a criticism, or temper a reaction.
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Blue: PATTERNS
- CAMO
- CHECKERS
- HONEYCOMB
- STRIPES
Each word names, describes, or evokes a recurring visual design. Camouflage, checkerboard squares, honeycomb cells, and stripes are all recognizable patterns.
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- CHESS — chess pie
- CUTIE — cutie pie
- HUMBLE — humble pie
- WHOOPIE — whoopie pie
This group depends on completing familiar phrases rather than matching the words by their standalone meanings. Cutie pie and humble pie are common expressions, while chess pie and whoopie pie are regional or less familiar dessert terms for some solvers.
The CHESS and CHECKERS trap
The most obvious decoy is the apparent CHESS/CHECKERS pair. Both are associated with board games, but they belong in different groups here.
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CHESS goes in the purple group because it forms chess pie. CHECKERS goes in the blue group because a checkerboard is a visual pattern alongside CAMO, HONEYCOMB, and STRIPES.
The yellow group can also be easy to overlook. CHEEK, LIP, and MOUTH look like body-part words at first, but their slang meanings point to sassiness when combined with ATTITUDE.
A note about CAMO
The correct puzzle word is CAMO, short for camouflage. Some secondary coverage has transcribed it as CAMP, but CAMP is not the word in this puzzle. CAMO is the word that completes the PATTERNS group with CHECKERS, HONEYCOMB, and STRIPES.
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How Connections works
Connections gives players 16 words and asks them to divide the grid into four groups of four based on a shared relationship. The game allows up to four incorrect guesses. Categories vary in difficulty, with the purple category typically using a more specialized connection, wordplay, or cultural reference.
For this puzzle, a productive solving route is to identify the concrete pattern group, while resisting the temptation to pair CHESS with CHECKERS. Next, look for the mitigation verbs. Once those are removed, the remaining words separate into the sassiness group and the “___ PIE” phrases.
Want more screen-free word puzzles?
If this puzzle’s wordplay appealed to you, Puzzle Mania!: Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Minis and More! is a physical NYT Games puzzle book designed for screen-free play. The publisher describes it as a collection that adapts games from the New York Times Games lineup, including Connections. It was published by Authors Equity on October 21, 2025. It is a broader puzzle collection, not a confirmed reproduction of this specific Connections puzzle (#772).
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What are the answers to NYT Connections #772 for Tuesday, July 22, 2025?
The groups are SASSINESS (ATTITUDE, CHEEK, LIP, MOUTH), MITIGATE (CUSHION, DAMPEN, SOFTEN, TEMPER), PATTERNS (CAMO, CHECKERS, HONEYCOMB, STRIPES), and ___ PIE (CHESS, CUTIE, HUMBLE, WHOOPIE).
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Is the word CAMO or CAMP in Connections #772?
The correct word is CAMO. Some secondary coverage contains a transcription error listing CAMP, but CAMO belongs in the PATTERNS group with CHECKERS, HONEYCOMB, and STRIPES.
Why are CHESS and CHECKERS in different Connections groups?
CHESS forms the phrase chess pie and belongs in the purple ___ PIE group. CHECKERS refers to a checkered visual design and belongs in the blue PATTERNS group.
What does Connections #772 mean by chess pie and whoopie pie?
They are dessert names formed by placing each puzzle word before PIE. The other two phrases are cutie pie and humble pie.
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The Bottom Line
The key to July 22’s puzzle is avoiding the CHESS/CHECKERS board-game pairing: CHESS belongs with CUTIE, HUMBLE, and WHOOPIE for “___ PIE,” while CHECKERS joins CAMO, HONEYCOMB, and STRIPES as a pattern.
Quick Recap
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