Word Ladder Puzzles
A chain of five words, each one letter different from the last — with one rung missing. Choose the word that fits between its two neighbours, and every wrong option says exactly how it fails: too many letters changed, or a chain that only connects on one side.
Also called a word chain or, historically, doublets.
Related Practice
What Is A Word Ladder?
A word ladder is a chain of real words that starts at one word and ends at another, where every step changes exactly one letter and every rung in between is also a real word. COLD becomes WARM in four steps: COLD, CORD, CARD, WARD, WARM — each word one letter away from its neighbour. The form was invented by Lewis Carroll in 1877 under the name doublets, and it is also published as a word chain or a word golf puzzle.
Why This Page Asks You To Choose, Not Type
A free-text word ladder has to check whether whatever you type is a real English word, and that needs a dictionary this site does not maintain — the same honest limit that keeps a full crossword off this site (§11.6's kill list). Every chain here is built and verified in full ahead of time instead, start to end, and the puzzle asks you to pick the missing rung from four options. Nothing is typed and nothing needs validating against an open word list — every option shown, right or wrong, is a real word already confirmed to exist in this site's own bank.
A wrong option is never invented for the sake of having four choices. Every distractor is a genuine word pulled from a different chain on this site, chosen for a specific, nameable reason: it connects to one neighbour but not the other, or it does not connect to either. The board tells you which, rather than a plain "incorrect".
Two Ways A Wrong Answer Fails
Every option that is not the answer fails one of two ways, and the explanation always says which:
| Failure | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Connects on one side only | One letter from the word before the gap, or the word after it — but not both. | BOLD fits after COLD but not before CARD. |
| Connects on neither side | More than one letter different from both neighbours. | GLEE has nothing to do with either COLD or CARD. |
Sixty Chains, Twenty Themes
Twenty five-word chains sit behind this page, each one hand-built and checked so that every consecutive pair really is exactly one letter apart. Each chain has three internal rungs, so twenty chains give sixty separate puzzles — one for each hidden position. The chains themselves are fixed; what a fresh seed changes is only which three wrong words are offered alongside the right one, and in what order.
Word Ladder Puzzles Frequently Asked Questions
What is a word ladder?
A chain of real words linking a start word to an end word, changing exactly one letter at each step and never landing on anything but a real word. It is also called a word chain, and historically doublets, after Lewis Carroll's original 1877 name for it.
Why can't I type my own answer?
Checking a typed answer against every possible real word needs a full dictionary, which this site does not maintain. Choosing from four pre-verified options means every word on the page, right or wrong, is already confirmed real — nothing has to be looked up.
Can more than one word fit the gap?
Not here — every wrong option is checked to make sure it does not also connect validly to both neighbours, which would give the question two right answers. Exactly one option is ever correct.
Do the letters have to change in the same position each time?
No. A word ladder only requires that exactly one letter changes at each step — it can be the first letter, the last, or any position in between, and different steps in the same chain often change different positions.
Who invented the word ladder?
Lewis Carroll, who published the earliest known version under the name doublets in Vanity Fair magazine in 1877, challenging readers to turn one word into another one letter at a time.
Is it free, and does it need an account?
Free, no account, no adverts, and nothing leaves your browser.