Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Monday, June 8, 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 8, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
MARS
HORN
VENUS
CIDER
BROTH
APOLLO
PLUTO
TODDY
TRUMPET
MERCURY
NEPTUNE
TUBA
COCOA
JUPITER
SATURN
TROMBONE
Hint ladder
Spoiler warning
Stage 1 — letter spread
Today's 16 words are spread across the alphabet. The most common starting letters are T (4×), M (2×), C (2×), V (1×).
Stage 2 — yellow theme
The yellow group's theme is "Planets". 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: MERCURY, VENUS, MARS, SATURN.
MERCURYVENUSMARSSATURN
Stage 4 — all four themes
The four categories, in order from easiest to hardest, are: Yellow (easiest): "Planets" · Green: "Roman gods" · Blue: "Hot drinks" · Purple (trickiest): "Brass instruments".
Stage 5 — full solution
Below is the full grouping — each row is one category.