Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Monday, March 23, 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 23, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
WRENCH
PAPRIKA
ROCK
OREGANO
TAKE
HAMMER
THYME
SOLD
BLACK
CUMIN
COUNTRY
BLUES
KNOCK
JAZZ
SAW
DRILL
Hint ladder
Spoiler warning
Stage 1 — letter spread
Today's 16 words are spread across the alphabet. The most common starting letters are B (2×), C (2×), T (2×), S (2×).
Stage 2 — yellow theme
The yellow group's theme is "Music genres". 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: JAZZ, ROCK, BLUES, COUNTRY.
JAZZROCKBLUESCOUNTRY
Stage 4 — all four themes
The four categories, in order from easiest to hardest, are: Yellow (easiest): "Music genres" · Green: "Spices" · Blue: "Hand tools" · Purple (trickiest): "___ Out".
Stage 5 — full solution
Below is the full grouping — each row is one category.