What is a word ladder?
A word ladder asks you to turn one word into another by changing a single letter at a time, with every step landing on a real word. Lewis Carroll invented the format in the late 1870s and published it in Vanity Fair under the name Doublets, challenging readers to bridge pairs like HEAD and TAIL.
Carroll's own solution ran HEAD, HEAL, TEAL, TELL, TALL, TAIL, and that little chain shows why the game has lasted 150 years. Each step is trivial on its own, yet the route is genuinely hard to see, and a finished ladder feels like a small proof.
Word ladder rules
Every rung changes exactly one letter of the previous word, keeps every other letter in place, and must be a real word. The length never changes, so a four letter start means four letter words all the way to the target.
Reach the target word and the ladder is complete. COLD to WARM is the classic beginner route: COLD, CORD, CARD, WARD, WARM.
Tips for tricky ladders
Solve from both ends. Note which letters the start and target already share, since those positions may never need to change, and count the letters that must. A ladder whose ends differ in three positions can never be shorter than three steps.
Vowels are the hinges. When a ladder stalls, swapping the vowel opens far more real words than swapping a consonant, which is why routes so often pass through plain words like CORD or BOLD.
If a rung refuses to move, step back one and take a different word of the same shape. Common frames like _ALL and _OLD have many members, and the right route often runs through the most boring word available.
The daily ladder
A fresh set of ladders arrives at midnight UTC in easy, medium and hard, with an expert ladder as an optional bonus. Completing the three core ladders finishes your day and keeps your streak, and expert upgrades a finished day to a clean sweep.
Word Ladder is currently in development. This page describes the game as it will launch. In the meantime, Hashiwokakero and Chess Solitaire are live with daily puzzles.
Word ladder FAQ
Are proper nouns allowed?
No. Every rung must be an ordinary dictionary word, so names, places and abbreviations do not count.
Is there always a shortest path?
Ladders often have several valid routes, and yours does not need to match anyone else's. Fewer steps is the traditional measure of elegance, but any chain of real words that follows the one letter rule solves the puzzle.
Can the words change length mid ladder?
Not in the classic form we play. Carroll's original rules fix the length, and every daily ladder keeps the start, the target and every rung the same number of letters.