Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Sunday, March 22, 2026, a progressive hint ladder so you can work toward the solution without spoiling it, and the full color-coded grouping if you want the answer outright.
Heads up: Melio’s Connections grids are independently authored. The answers for Sunday, March 22, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
KEY
TENNIS
BASKETBALL
BRIDGE
ORION
LEO
TAURUS
CARD
SOCCER
WARRIOR
SURF
GEMINI
COBRA
CHILD
SKATE
BASEBALL
Hint ladder
Spoiler warning
Stage 1 — letter spread
Today's 16 words are spread across the alphabet. The most common starting letters are S (3×), B (3×), C (3×), T (2×).
Stage 2 — yellow theme
The yellow group's theme is "Balls used in sports". That's the easiest grouping; pick the four words that fit and you're a quarter of the way through.
Stage 3 — yellow group reveal
The four yellow words are: SOCCER, TENNIS, BASKETBALL, BASEBALL.
SOCCERTENNISBASKETBALLBASEBALL
Stage 4 — all four themes
The four categories, in order from easiest to hardest, are: Yellow (easiest): "Balls used in sports" · Green: "Yoga poses" · Blue: "Constellations" · Purple (trickiest): "___ Board".
Stage 5 — full solution
Below is the full grouping — each row is one category.