Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Tuesday, May 26, 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 Tuesday, May 26, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
SOCCER
BASEBALL
KEY
COBRA
TENNIS
GEMINI
BASKETBALL
SKATE
ORION
CARD
TAURUS
LEO
BRIDGE
CHILD
SURF
WARRIOR
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.