Word Ladder: daily word puzzle game
Turn one word into another by changing a single letter at a time. Every step must be a real word. A new ladder every day, plus unlimited play.
How to play Word Ladder
- You get a start word and a target word, both four letters long.
- Change exactly one letter to make a new real word, and type it in. Letters stay in their places: you can't swap or reorder them.
- Keep going until you reach the target. Try to match the best possible number of moves shown above the ladder.
Stuck? Hint suggests your next step, Undo takes a step back, and Show answer fills in a shortest ladder.
A worked example
To turn COLD into WARM, one shortest ladder is: COLD → CORD → CARD → WARD → WARM. Each step changes one letter, and each step is a common word. Notice how the ladder fixes the hard letters first: the O becomes an A only after the L has turned into R.
How the daily ladder is made
Every ladder uses our list of 797 everyday four-letter words. The start and target words share no letter in the same position, so every letter has to change at least once. The "best possible" score is worked out by the game itself, which searches every possible path through everyday words. A daily ladder always needs at least four moves, so it is never trivial.
Strategy tips
- Look at the target's letters, not just the start. Ask which letter of the target is hardest to reach (often a consonant like W or K) and plan around it.
- Vowels are your bridge. Changing a vowel (CAT → COT → CUT) opens up lots of new words. When you're stuck, try a different vowel.
- Work backwards. Change one letter of the target and see which words you get. Meeting in the middle is often easier.
- Avoid dead ends. Words with unusual letter combos (like those ending in -SK or -MB) have few neighbors. Steer through common patterns like -ART, -ARE, -OLD and -EAT, which have lots of rhyming neighbors.
Where word ladders come from
The word ladder was invented by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He called it "Doublets" and published the first puzzles in 1879, including turning HEAD into TAIL. It's still one of the simplest and best word puzzles: just two words and one rule.
Missed a daily ladder? Every past ladder, with a shortest solution, is in the puzzle archive.
Frequently asked questions
What is a word ladder?
A puzzle where you change one letter at a time to turn one word into another, making a real word at every step.
What does best possible mean?
It is the fewest moves needed using common words. Match it for a perfect ladder.
Is there always a solution?
Yes. Every ladder is checked to have a path using everyday words.
Who invented word ladders?
Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland. He called them Doublets and published the first ones in 1879.
What does the hint button do?
It shows the next word on a shortest path from where you are now to the target.