All 16 words, sorted alphabetically. Group them into four categories of four.
The four category names, easiest to hardest. No words revealed yet.
Theme name plus one word from each category.
PAIR, PARE, PEAR, and PÈRE are all homophones — they sound the same (like 'pair') but have different spellings and meanings: a set of two, to peel, a fruit, and the French word for father.
BLOW, CRACK, POP, and SPLIT all mean to rupture or burst — as in a tire blows, a pipe cracks, a balloon pops, or something splits open.
PADRE (San Diego Padres), RED (Cincinnati Reds), ROYAL (Kansas City Royals), and TWIN (Minnesota Twins) are all singular forms of MLB team names, referring to a player on that team.
CHEAP is an anagram of PEACH, EARP is an anagram of PEAR, LUMP is an anagram of PLUM, and WIKI is an anagram of KIWI — each word can be rearranged to spell a fruit.