PuzzlePave
Play

Word ladder

Daily word ladder

Change one letter at a time to climb from the start word to the goal. A new ladder every day, plus practice.

How to play word ladder

  1. Read the start and goal. The ladder starts with the word at the top and ends with the yellow goal word. Par is the fewest steps possible.
  2. Pick one letter. Tap (or click) the letter you want to change. On a keyboard use the arrow keys or 1–5 to pick a position.
  3. Choose the new letter. Tap a letter on the wooden keyboard or type it. If the result is a real English word you have not used yet, it becomes the next rung.
  4. Watch the green tiles. Letters that already match the goal turn green, so you can see how close you are.
  5. Undo or ask for a hint. Undo steps back one rung. Hint first shows which letter to change, then a second press makes the move for you.
  6. Reach the goal and share. Land on the goal word to finish. Share a spoiler-free result and come back tomorrow to keep your streak.

Word ladder strategy

Good ladders usually travel through a vowel change. If the start and goal share no letters in the same place, first fix the letter that is easiest to swap, often the first consonant, then change the vowel, and leave the hardest letter for last.

  • Work backwards: look at the goal and list the words one step away from it. One of them is often easy to reach.
  • Use the green tiles. A move that turns a tile green is usually progress, but sometimes you must change a letter away from the goal to get around a dead end.
  • Common endings like -ATE, -ORE and -AND have many neighbours, so they make good stepping stones on 4- and 5-letter ladders.
  • If you are three or more steps over par, undo back to the last green tile and try a different vowel.

Word ladder example

Carroll’s classic is HEAD to TAIL: HEAD → HEAL → TEAL → TELL → TALL → TAIL. A shorter one is COLD to WARM in four steps: COLD → CORD → CARD → WARD → WARM. Each daily ladder here is checked by computer so that par is the true minimum, and every ladder can be solved using everyday words.

More puzzles on PuzzlePave

Enjoy logic puzzles? Try the free wooden packing puzzle with 100 levels, today’s calendar puzzle, or the pentomino solver.

FAQ

What is a word ladder?

A word ladder is a word puzzle where you turn one word into another by changing a single letter at a time, and every step must be a real word, for example COLD → CORD → CARD → WARD → WARM. Lewis Carroll invented the game in 1877 and called it Doublets.

Is there a new word ladder every day?

Yes. The daily word ladder changes at midnight in your own time zone, and everyone who plays on the same date gets the same start and goal words. Practice mode gives you as many extra ladders as you like.

What does par mean?

Par is the smallest number of steps that can solve the ladder, found by searching every possible route through our word list. Daily ladders have a par of 4 to 7 steps.

Which words are allowed?

Common 4- and 5-letter English words from public word lists, including plurals and verb forms. Proper nouns, abbreviations and offensive words are not accepted, and you cannot use the same word twice in one ladder.

Do I need an account?

No. The game runs in your browser and saves your progress and streak on this device only. Nothing is sent to a server.

Can I play on a phone or iPad?

Yes. The ladder and the letter keyboard are sized for touch: tap a letter in the word, then tap its replacement. A physical keyboard works too.