Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Sunday, June 28, 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, June 28, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
MUSHROOM
RAIN
LEIA
HAIL
SNOW
PEPPERONI
SLEET
HOOK
ONION
REY
JAB
YODA
VADER
CROSS
ROUND
OLIVE
Hint ladder
Spoiler warning
Stage 1: letter spread
Today's 16 words are spread across the alphabet. The most common starting letters are R (3×), O (2×), S (2×), H (2×).
Stage 2: yellow theme
The yellow group's theme is "Pizza toppings". 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: PEPPERONI, MUSHROOM, OLIVE, ONION.
PEPPERONIMUSHROOMOLIVEONION
Stage 4: all four themes
The four categories, in order from easiest to hardest, are: Yellow (easiest): "Pizza toppings" · Green: "Forms of precipitation" · Blue: "Boxing terms" · Purple (trickiest): "Star Wars characters".
Stage 5: full solution
Below is the full grouping; each row is one category.