Daily Group Grid Answer — June 18, 2026
Full answer to our original Daily Group Grid puzzle for June 18, 2026 (Puzzle #169). Want the latest day instead? Head to today's answer, or just need a nudge — try the progressive hints. Tap a blacked-out box to reveal it.
Hints (no spoilers)
- Yellow: the easiest, most literal group.
- Green: a small twist on the obvious.
- Blue: trickier — think category, not surface meaning.
- Purple: the curveball; expect wordplay or a hidden pattern.
The Answers
| Group | Theme | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 🟡 Yellow | Pizza toppings | ONION, PEPPER, MUSHROOM, SAUSAGE |
| 🟢 Green | Popeye characters | OLIVE, BLUTO, WIMPY, SWEEPEA |
| 🔵 Blue | ___ spray | HAIR, BODY, SEA, BEAR |
| 🟣 Purple | Salt-N-Pepa & co. | PEPA, VINEGAR, SHAKER, FLAT |
The purple trap: OLIVE reads as a topping and PEPPER as a Popeye-ish word, but OLIVE is a character and PEPPER is a topping. Solve the people group first to free the food group.
How the June 18, 2026 board comes apart
Start with Pizza toppings (🟡 yellow). ONION, PEPPER, MUSHROOM and SAUSAGE share the most literal link on the board — each one is a plain, dictionary-level example of “Pizza toppings”. Bank the safest group first: clearing four tiles early leaves every later decoy fewer places to hide.
Green is Popeye characters (🟢). OLIVE and BLUTO usually surface first; the test is whether WIMPY and SWEEPEA belong to “Popeye characters” just as cleanly. If one of the four feels forced, that word probably serves another group and you are one tile off.
The blue group, ___ spray, tends to need a second pass. HAIR, BODY, SEA and BEAR only click once you stop reading each word at surface level and ask what single category could hold all four at once — here, that shared frame is “___ spray”.
Purple is Salt-N-Pepa & co.: PEPA, VINEGAR, SHAKER and FLAT. Do not hunt for it directly — the “Salt-N-Pepa & co.” link is built to stay invisible until the easier groups are gone. Solve around it and let the last four tiles confirm themselves.
Why the purple group misleads: OLIVE reads as a topping and PEPPER as a Popeye-ish word, but OLIVE is a character and PEPPER is a topping. Solve the people group first to free the food group. Whenever a word seems to fit two groups, park it and finish the group that has four unambiguous members — the leftover placement resolves itself.
Want to play instead?
Play today's Daily Group Grid, see today's hints, or browse the full answer archive. New to grouping puzzles? Our word-grouping tips and puzzle glossary cover the recurring category types.
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