About room #314
- Ladder
- SNEAK → CHECK
- Word length
- 5
- Par (fewest steps)
- 7
- Letters that differ
- 3
Room #314 climbs from SNEAK to CHECK. Of their 5 letters, 3 differ (positions 1, 2, 4); each of those needs a rung of its own, so the shortest imaginable ladder has 3 rungs — par here is 7.
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 P: SPEAK.
Show one shortest ladder
SNEAK → SPEAK → SPEAR → SHEAR → SHEER → CHEER → CHEEK → CHECK
Rules of Word Ladder · One letter at a time: planning ladders and guesses