About room #302
- Ladder
- SPADE → FLING
- Word length
- 5
- Par (fewest steps)
- 7
- Letters that differ
- 5
Room #302 climbs from SPADE to FLING. Of their 5 letters, 5 differ (positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5); each of those needs a rung of its own, so the shortest imaginable ladder has 5 rungs — par here is 7.
So 2 rungs are sidesteps: somewhere a correct letter gets spoiled for a moment, or a letter from neither word is borrowed.
Five-letter words have few neighbours, so plan the last rungs first: which words could sit just below the target?
Five-letter words and ladders of six to nine steps.
Stuck? Open a hint
Hint: the first step
Change letter 4 to C: SPACE.
Show one shortest ladder
SPADE → SPACE → SPICE → SPINE → SWINE → SWING → SLING → FLING
Rules of Word Ladder · One letter at a time: planning ladders and guesses