About room #103
- Ladder
- BUMP → DALE
- Word length
- 4
- Par (fewest steps)
- 4
- Letters that differ
- 4
Room #103 climbs from BUMP to DALE. Of their 4 letters, 4 differ (positions 1, 2, 3, 4); each of those needs a rung of its own, so the shortest imaginable ladder has 4 rungs — par here is 4.
Par equals the number of different letters, so every step can put one letter of DALE in place. The puzzle is only about the order.
Try changing the vowel first; short words tolerate vowel swaps well.
Four-letter words and short ladders of three or four steps.
Stuck? Open a hint
Hint: the first step
Change letter 1 to D: DUMP.
Show one shortest ladder
BUMP → DUMP → DAMP → DAME → DALE
Rules of Word Ladder · One letter at a time: planning ladders and guesses