Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Friday, June 26, 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 Friday, June 26, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
TRUMPET
BROTH
MARS
CIDER
SATURN
PLUTO
COCOA
TODDY
NEPTUNE
TUBA
JUPITER
TROMBONE
HORN
APOLLO
VENUS
MERCURY
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.