Today's Daily Group Grid Answer — July 16, 2026
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Stuck on today's Daily Group Grid (Puzzle #197)? Below are gentle hints first, then the full answer for all four groups. Tap a blacked-out box to reveal it. If you only want a nudge, use the progressive hints page instead.
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.
Today's Answers
| Group | Theme | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 🟡 Yellow | Olympic sports | JUDO, FENCING, ROWING, ARCHERY |
| 🟢 Green | Pasta sauces | PESTO, ALFREDO, RAGU, CARBONARA |
| 🔵 Blue | Mythical creatures | GRIFFIN, KRAKEN, SPHINX, HYDRA |
| 🟣 Purple | Hairstyles | BRAID, BUN, MULLET, PERM |
The purple trap: MULLET is also a fish but here it's the hairstyle; SPHINX is a creature, not the cat breed.
How today's board comes apart
Start with Olympic sports (🟡 yellow). JUDO, FENCING, ROWING and ARCHERY share the most literal link on the board — each one is a plain, dictionary-level example of “Olympic sports”. Bank the safest group first: clearing four tiles early leaves every later decoy fewer places to hide.
Green is Pasta sauces (🟢). PESTO and ALFREDO usually surface first; the test is whether RAGU and CARBONARA belong to “Pasta sauces” 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, Mythical creatures, tends to need a second pass. GRIFFIN, KRAKEN, SPHINX and HYDRA 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 “Mythical creatures”.
Purple is Hairstyles: BRAID, BUN, MULLET and PERM. Do not hunt for it directly — the “Hairstyles” 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: MULLET is also a fish but here it's the hairstyle; SPHINX is a creature, not the cat breed. 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, browse progressive hints, see this day's permanent archive page, or the full answer archive. For the recurring category types, see our word-grouping tips and puzzle glossary.
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