Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Monday, June 1, 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, June 1, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
HAMMER
BLUES
OREGANO
DRILL
COUNTRY
THYME
CUMIN
PAPRIKA
SOLD
ROCK
BLACK
WRENCH
TAKE
SAW
JAZZ
KNOCK
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.