How to play
You see the starting word and the target. Tap the letter of the last word you want to change, type the new letter and press Enter. If the result is a real word, it becomes the next rung of the ladder. Keep going until you reach the target word. You can undo steps as far back as you like.
The number to beat is par: the fewest steps that can possibly connect the two words, found by searching every accepted word of that length. At least one shortest ladder uses only common words, and that one is what the hint button follows.
Strategy that works
- Start by comparing the two words. Each position where they disagree costs at least one step; subtract that count from par and you know how many sideways moves the room expects.
- Fix the letters that are easiest to fix. Changing a vowel usually keeps you among real words; changing the first consonant often does too.
- Watch for dead ends. Some words have very few neighbours. If a step leads to a word that can only change back, undo and try another position.
- Plan from the top rung down. List a few words that sit one letter away from the target and steer towards whichever looks reachable.
- Expect a sidestep on floor 3. Five-letter ladders often force you to spoil a correct letter for a while, or borrow a letter neither word contains, simply because the straight route runs through non-words.
The three floors
First-floor ladders use four-letter words and need three or four steps. Second-floor ladders keep four letters but stretch to five or six steps, which usually means one detour. Top-floor ladders use five-letter words and need six to nine steps; there are fewer five-letter neighbours, so planning matters more than luck.
A worked example
Take COLD to WARM. All four letters differ, so four steps is the minimum. Change the first letter first and you get WOLD; change the vowel first and you get CALD — neither is an everyday word. Change the L instead: COLD → CORD → CARD → WARD → WARM. Four steps for four different letters, so par is met. The lesson is the order: the same four changes work only in a sequence where every rung is a real word, and the rung that unlocks the rest is often not the obvious one.
Questions
What is par?
The smallest possible number of steps between the two words, computed over every accepted word. You can finish with more steps; the result shows how far over par you went.
Can I use any word as a step?
Any word in the accepted list for the language, not only common ones. Names and abbreviations are not in the list.
Can I go back?
Yes. Undo removes the last step, as many times as you like, even after reloading the page.
Why does the hint pick that word?
Hints follow one of the shortest ladders made of common words, starting from your current position when it is still on such a ladder.
Who invented word ladders?
The puzzle is well over a century old and belongs to everyone. Ours are generated from open word lists in each language.