Famous Word Ladder Examples
Twenty classic word ladders, fully worked out — from Lewis Carroll's most famous chains to modern favourites. Each example shows one valid solution; many of these puzzles have multiple shortest paths.
Three-letter ladders
1. CAT → DOG (3 steps)
CAT → COT → COG → DOG
The shortest famous ladder. The bridge is COT (a small bed) → COG (a tooth on a wheel).
2. APE → MAN (5 steps)
APE → APT → OPT → OAT → MAT → MAN
One of Carroll's published puzzles. The pivot at OPT/OAT shows how vowel changes open the path.
3. PEN → PAD (2 steps)
PEN → PAN → PAD
A neat desk-themed chain that pivots on PAN. Try PEN → INK as a harder challenge: INK has very few three-letter neighbours (IRK, ILK, INN), which makes it a famously awkward target in most word lists.
4. SUN → MOON (impossible — different lengths)
Word ladders require equal-length words. SUN to MOON cannot be a ladder. The closest valid puzzle is SUN to RAY, which involves a vowel pivot through SAY → RAY: SUN → SON → SOY → SAY → RAY.
Four-letter ladders
5. COLD → WARM (4 steps)
COLD → CORD → WORD → WARD → WARM
The textbook word-ladder example. CORD → WORD → WARD is the canonical bridge sequence.
6. HEAD → TAIL (5 steps)
HEAD → HEAL → TEAL → TELL → TALL → TAIL
Lewis Carroll's first published example, set for the Arnold sisters on Christmas Day 1877.
7. FISH → BIRD (5 steps)
FISH → FIST → GIST → GIRT → GIRD → BIRD
The bridges through GIST and GIRT make this puzzle a classic example of why bridge-word vocabulary matters.
8. POOR → RICH (5 steps)
POOR → BOOR → BOOK → ROOK → ROCK → RICK → RICH
One of the longer 4-letter ladders. The double-O cluster (BOOR/BOOK/ROOK) carries you most of the way.
9. LEAD → GOLD (3 steps)
LEAD → LOAD → GOAD → GOLD
An alchemist's favourite — turning LEAD into GOLD in three clean steps. The double bridge through LOAD and GOAD does all the work. Compass pairs like EAST → WEST, by contrast, share no letters and tend to need a far longer, messier chain.
10. SHIP → DOCK (5 steps)
SHIP → SHOP → CHOP → COOP → COOK → COCK → DOCK
A satisfying chain — every word is common. Notice how SHOP/CHOP and COOK/COCK are the two natural pivot points.
11. HATE → LOVE (5 steps)
HATE → LATE → LACE → LICE → LIVE → LOVE
A pleasing opposites pair that resolves entirely through common words. The pivot at LACE → LICE → LIVE walks the vowel down the middle of the word. Pairs that share no letters at all, like WORK → PLAY, are far harder and usually run much longer.
Five-letter ladders
12. FLOUR → BREAD (6 steps)
FLOUR → FLOOR → FLOOD → BLOOD → BROOD → BROAD → BREAD
Carroll's famous baking ladder. The double-O bridge through FLOOR/FLOOD is elegant.
13. BLACK → WHITE (7 steps)
BLACK → BLANK → BLINK → CLINK → CHINK → CHINE → WHINE → WHITE
Carroll set this in Vanity Fair as a public challenge. CHINE — the backbone of an animal — is the unusual word the puzzle hangs on.
14. SLEEP → DREAM (6 steps)
SLEEP → BLEEP → BLEED → BREED → BREAD → DREAD → DREAM
One of the prettiest five-letter ladders. The double-E bridge does most of the work.
15. NIGHT → LIGHT (1 step)
NIGHT → LIGHT
The shortest possible non-trivial ladder: a single letter changes. Useful for showing beginners what counts as a one-letter step.
16. EARTH → SPACE (impossible in many dictionaries)
EARTH and SPACE have no overlapping letters and require unusual five-letter intermediates. In most word-ladder dictionaries, this puzzle has no valid solution. Word Labyrinth omits unsolvable pairs from the daily ladder.
17. STONE → SHARE (5 steps)
STONE → SCONE → SCORE → STORE → SHORE → SHARE
A clean five-letter chain where every rung is an everyday word. The run of -ORE words (SCORE → STORE → SHORE) keeps the path tidy, with SCONE giving a gentle start out of STONE.
Six-letter ladders
18. WINTER → SUMMER (13 steps)
Carroll's hardest published puzzle. Most modern solvers find shortest paths of 13 steps using bridges through WINNER, SINNER, DINNER, DIMMER and SIMMER. Try it as an exercise; the path through DIMMER → SIMMER → SUMMER is particularly satisfying.
19. ORANGE → APPLES (variable)
Six-letter colour-and-fruit pairs are notoriously hard. ORANGE has few six-letter neighbours; APPLES likewise. In many dictionaries this is unsolvable; in larger ones, any path has to thread a long run of uncommon intermediaries and runs to 9+ steps.
20. GROUND → FLIGHT (variable)
A modern challenge. Six-letter ladders with no shared letters typically require 8–12 steps. Try it: pivot through bridges like GROAND (rare), or go via vowel changes through GROANS, GROWNS, BROWNS, FROWNS, before approaching FLIGHT through CLIGHT (rare) and SLIGHT.
Notes on dictionary choice
Many of these solutions depend on which words the dictionary admits. Carroll's 1879 dictionary differs from a modern Scrabble dictionary, and either differs from the curated word list a daily game like Word Labyrinth uses. If a chain refuses to resolve in your puzzle, the dictionary may simply not include the bridge word you have in mind — try a different bridge.
Try these in Word Labyrinth
Many of these classic pairs appear in our daily ladders, sometimes with deliberately tougher constraints. The Practice / Custom mode lets you set any start and target, so you can attempt the famous Carroll chains with our dictionary.
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