Connections answers for Friday, September 18, 2026
Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Friday, September 18, 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 Friday, September 18, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
CODE
EGG
WHIP
WHITE
GREEN
JOKE
CHROME
SAFARI
LION
BIRD
LEOPARD
JAGUAR
FIREFOX
TIGER
EDGE
BOAT
Hint ladder
Spoiler warning
Stage 1: letter spread
Today's 16 words are spread across the alphabet. The most common starting letters are L (2×), J (2×), C (2×), E (2×).
Stage 2: yellow theme
The yellow group's theme is "Big cats". 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: TIGER, LION, JAGUAR, LEOPARD.
TIGERLIONJAGUARLEOPARD
Stage 4: all four themes
The four categories, in order from easiest to hardest, are: Yellow (easiest): "Big cats" · Green: "Web browsers" · Blue: "Things that can be cracked" · Purple (trickiest): "___ House".
Stage 5: full solution
Below is the full grouping; each row is one category.