About room #308
- Ladder
- CLOSE → ROAST
- Word length
- 5
- Par (fewest steps)
- 8
- Letters that differ
- 4
Room #308 climbs from CLOSE to ROAST. Of their 5 letters, 4 differ (positions 1, 2, 3, 5); each of those needs a rung of its own, so the shortest imaginable ladder has 4 rungs — par here is 8.
So 4 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 2 to H: CHOSE.
Show one shortest ladder
CLOSE → CHOSE → CHASE → CEASE → LEASE → LEAST → BEAST → BOAST → ROAST
Rules of Word Ladder · One letter at a time: planning ladders and guesses