Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Sunday, July 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 Sunday, July 26, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
JAZZ
BLACK
CUMIN
KNOCK
BLUES
OREGANO
WRENCH
TAKE
SOLD
ROCK
HAMMER
SAW
PAPRIKA
THYME
DRILL
COUNTRY
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.