Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Friday, October 2, 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, October 2, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
MARS
SATURN
MERCURY
BROTH
TODDY
COCOA
VENUS
NEPTUNE
APOLLO
HORN
TROMBONE
CIDER
TRUMPET
PLUTO
JUPITER
TUBA
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.