Word ladder answers for February 8, 2026
The daily ladder for Sunday, February 8, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was MANE to MELT, solvable in 3 steps, and the longest was PEARL to FERAL, which needs at least 7.
Each solution below is hidden until you open it, so you can try the puzzle first. A shortest solution is shown for every puzzle; many ladders have more than one path of the same length, so yours may differ and still be optimal.
Puzzle 1: MANE to MELT
Show the solution
- N becomes L
- E becomes T
- A becomes E
Words in this ladder
- MANE noun
- long coarse hair growing from the crest of the animal's neck
- MALE noun
- an animal that produces gametes (spermatozoa) that can fertilize female gametes (ova)
- MALT noun
- a milkshake made with malt powder
- MELT noun
- the process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid
Puzzle 2: VOLE to TALL
Show the solution
- O becomes A
- V becomes T
- E becomes L
Words in this ladder
- VOLE noun
- any of various small mouselike rodents of the family Cricetidae (especially of genus Microtus) having a stout short-tailed body and inconspicuous ears and inhabiting fields or meadows
- VALE noun
- a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river
- TALE noun
- a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
- TALL noun
- a garment size for a tall person
Puzzle 3: FILM to STING
Show the solution
- M becomes E
- L becomes N
- F becomes S
- E becomes G
- add T
Words in this ladder
- FILM noun
- a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement
- FILE noun
- a set of related records (either written or electronic) kept together
- FINE noun
- money extracted as a penalty
- SINE noun
- ratio of the length of the side opposite the given angle to the length of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle
- SING verb
- deliver by singing
- STING noun
- a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung
Puzzle 4: GUYS to ZOOM
Show the solution
- U becomes O
- Y becomes O
- G becomes Z
- S becomes M
Words in this ladder
- GUYS noun
- an informal term for a youth or man
- GOYS noun
- a Christian as contrasted with a Jew
- GOOS noun
- any thick, viscous matter
- ZOOS noun
- the facility where wild animals are housed for exhibition
- ZOOM noun
- a rapid rise
Puzzle 5: PEARL to FERAL
Show the solution
- L becomes Y
- P becomes D
- A becomes C
- R becomes A
- Y becomes L
- D becomes F
- C becomes R
Words in this ladder
- PEARL noun
- a smooth lustrous round structure inside the shell of a clam or oyster; much valued as a jewel
- PEARY noun
- United States Arctic explorer and United States naval officer who has been regarded as the first man to reach the North Pole (1856-1920)
- DEARY noun
- a special loved one
- DECRY verb
- express strong disapproval of
- DECAY noun
- the process of gradually becoming inferior
- DECAL noun
- either a design that is fixed to some surface or a paper bearing the design which is to be transferred to the surface
- FECAL adjective
- of or relating to feces
- FERAL adjective
- wild and menacing
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