Below: the Melio Connections puzzle for Monday, November 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 Monday, November 2, 2026 below are the Melio answers, not the NYT ones.
The 16 words
HOOK
YODA
MUSHROOM
LEIA
RAIN
PEPPERONI
SNOW
REY
ONION
VADER
OLIVE
HAIL
ROUND
JAB
SLEET
CROSS
Hint ladder
Spoiler warning
Stage 1: letter spread
Today's 16 words are spread across the alphabet. The most common starting letters are R (3×), O (2×), S (2×), H (2×).
Stage 2: yellow theme
The yellow group's theme is "Pizza toppings". 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: PEPPERONI, MUSHROOM, OLIVE, ONION.
PEPPERONIMUSHROOMOLIVEONION
Stage 4: all four themes
The four categories, in order from easiest to hardest, are: Yellow (easiest): "Pizza toppings" · Green: "Forms of precipitation" · Blue: "Boxing terms" · Purple (trickiest): "Star Wars characters".
Stage 5: full solution
Below is the full grouping; each row is one category.