Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Monday, March 16, 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 Monday, March 16, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
PEN
CRANE
DRAGON
TAPE
RULER
LOTUS
FOOT
WAVE
EYE
SHELL
ELBOW
CRAB
SAND
STAPLER
HEEL
SCORPION
Hint ladder
Spoiler warning
Stage 1 — letter spread
Today's 16 words are spread across the alphabet. The most common starting letters are S (4×), C (2×), E (2×), P (1×).
Stage 2 — yellow theme
The yellow group's theme is "Office supplies". 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: STAPLER, PEN, TAPE, RULER.
STAPLERPENTAPERULER
Stage 4 — all four themes
The four categories, in order from easiest to hardest, are: Yellow (easiest): "Office supplies" · Green: "Yoga or martial arts moves" · Blue: "Body parts (also verbs)" · Purple (trickiest): "Things on a beach".
Stage 5 — full solution
Below is the full grouping — each row is one category.