One letter at a time: planning ladders and guesses

Word Ladder and Mystery Word both reward thinking one step ahead. The tools are the same: count what is different, and use positions, not just letters.

In Word Ladder: count before you climb

Write the start and target words one above the other and count the positions where they differ. That number is the least possible length of the ladder. Compare it with par, shown on every room page:

• Par equals the difference — every step can fix one letter. Your only job is to find an order in which each intermediate word is real.
• Par is larger — a sidestep is built in. At some rung a correct letter has to be spoiled for a while, or a letter from neither word has to be borrowed.

Vowels are the cheapest letters to swap, so try them early. When a rung leaves you with a word whose only neighbours lead back down, that is a dead end — undo it and work on a different position. For five-letter ladders also plan downwards from the target: jot down its one-letter neighbours and steer towards them.

In Mystery Word: every mark is a position clue

A round tile does not only say that a letter is in the word; it also says where the letter is not. Keep both facts. After two or three guesses, go through the five positions one by one and list which letters are still possible there. The list is usually shorter than it feels.

• Open with five different common letters.
• Let the second guess explore: five untried letters tell you more than shuffling the ones already marked, above all on floors 1 and 2.
• Remember that a letter can appear twice; a faded tile only means there are no more copies of it.
• On the top floor, the strict rule forces you to reuse every revealed letter — choose guesses that still leave room to test something new.

The shared lesson

Both games punish random tries and reward small, deliberate experiments. Before each step, ask what you will learn from it. A step that teaches you something is never wasted, even when it does not get you closer straight away.