ForbesNYT Connections Today: Wednesday, July 23 Hints And Answers (#773)By Kris Holt

Hey there, Connectors! I hope your week is going well.

Lately, I’ve found it tough to stay focused on gaming—ironic, since I write about it for a living. Over the past six weeks or so, I haven’t picked up a controller nearly as much as I usually do.

And you know what? That’s perfectly fine. Sometimes stepping back from something you love is necessary. It gives you space to return with renewed energy and perspective.

In the meantime, I’ve kept up with gaming news. A few months ago, I launched a weekly indie game roundup over at Engadget. It’s been a joy to dedicate time each week to spotlighting smaller projects that might otherwise fly under the radar. The downside? When I finally dive back into playing, my backlog is going to be even longer than before. But honestly, that’s a pretty great problem to have.

Before we jump in, I want to remind you about our friendly Discord community. We chat about NYT Connections, other NYT games, and plenty more. Everyone who’s joined has been super welcoming—it’s a fun place to hang out, and you’re invited!

Discord is also the best way to send me feedback, especially when I get something wrong (which happens more than I’d like to admit). I don’t check comments or Twitter much. And if you enjoy this column, you can catch my weekend editions in my new newsletter, Pastimes.

Now, let’s get into the NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, July 23.

How To Play Connections

Connections is a free daily word puzzle from The New York Times, available every day at midnight on the NYT website or Games app.

You’re given a 16-word grid and must group them into four sets of four based on a hidden theme. Themes can be anything—types of fruit, things that are cold, words that follow a certain prefix, etc.

There’s only one correct solution. Be cautious with words that could fit multiple categories. You can shuffle the grid to help spot connections.

Each group has a color and difficulty level:
? Yellow – Easiest
? Green – Medium
? Blue – Medium
? Purple – Hardest (often involves puns or wordplay)

Select four words and hit Submit. An incorrect guess costs a life. If you're close, you might get a hint like “one away.” Make four mistakes, and the game ends.

You can share your results with friends easily, just like in Wordle. With an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the full archive of past Connections puzzles.

And if you need help, our hints are just a Google search away—just click here and add the date of the puzzle you’re looking for.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Go slow! After each hint, I’ll reveal the theme of the group—but not which words belong to it.

Here are today’s 16 words:

• STEEL
• POLE
• GIANT
• SPLIT
• JET
• LUTE
• RIM
• KNICK
• NET
• TITANIC
• GREAT
• BOUNCE
• DIP
• BACKBOARD
• RABE
• MAMMOTH

Now, the hints:

• ? Yellow group — fitting descriptors for something massive, like King Kong or the Burj Khalifa
• ? Green group — slang for exiting a party without saying goodbye (my go-to move)
• ? Blue group — components you’d find on a basketball goal
• ? Purple group — words that sound like verbs meaning “to steal”

One Word For Each Connections Group

Still stuck? Here’s a single word from each group to nudge you in the right direction.

• ? Yellow group — GIANT
• ? Green group — JET
• ? Blue group — NET
• ? Purple group — LUTE

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

The themes for today’s groups are:

• ? Yellow group — colossal
• ? Green group — leave quickly
• ? Blue group — parts of a basketball hoop
• ? Purple group — homophones of synonyms for "nab"

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Heads up! Major spoilers ahead.

Stop scrolling if you’re not ready to see the answers!

Today’s solutions:

• ? Yellow group — colossal (GIANT, GREAT, MAMMOTH, TITANIC)
• ? Green group — leave quickly (BOUNCE, DIP, JET, SPLIT)
• ? Blue group — parts of a basketball hoop (BACKBOARD, NET, POLE, RIM)
• ? Purple group — homophones of synonyms for "nab" (KNICK, LUTE, RABE, STEEL)

The New York sports teams—GIANT, JET, KNICK, and NET—jumped out immediately. But then I saw the basketball terms and wondered if those were the real clue. I decided to play it safe and go with the obvious “huge” words first. That cleared the yellow group.

I hesitated on the basketball parts, but they clearly belonged together. Blues done! (Feels odd to have another basketball-related group so soon after the last one.)

The words BOUNCE, DIP, JET, and SPLIT all mean “to leave quickly,” so greens were next. But, being me, I submitted the purple group first.

Looking at KNICK, LUTE, RABE, and STEEL, I realized they sound like “nick,” “l(fā)oot,” “rob,” and “steal.” RABE for “rob” was the trickiest, but it clicked. Got it right! Then I wrapped up with the greens.

Another perfect round. My streak is now at 148—just two away from a new milestone! Here’s how my grid ended up:

????
????
????
????

That’s it for today’s Connections breakdown. Check back tomorrow for hints and answers to Thursday’s puzzle.

P.S. I heard this song on the radio recently. I can’t remember the last time it came on, and I bet you haven’t heard it in a while either. Absolute classic:

Please follow my blog for more on NYT Connections and other word games, plus the occasional video game update, analysis, and deep dive. It really helps me out. Sharing this column with fellow Connections players would mean a lot too. And don’t miss my weekend editions in my new newsletter, Pastimes.

The above is the detailed content of NYT Connections Today: Thursday, July 24 Hints And Answers (#774). For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!