Word ladder answers for February 22, 2026
The daily ladder for Sunday, February 22, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was SLAMS to SWABS, solvable in 2 steps, and the longest was BRENT to SHAWL, 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: SLAMS to SWABS
Show the solution
- M becomes B
- L becomes W
Words in this ladder
- SLAMS noun
- winning all or all but one of the tricks in bridge
- SLABS noun
- block consisting of a thick piece of something
- SWABS noun
- implement consisting of a small piece of cotton that is used to apply medication or cleanse a wound or obtain a specimen of a secretion
Puzzle 2: LOXES to RISES
Show the solution
- X becomes S
- L becomes R
- O becomes I
Words in this ladder
- LOXES noun
- a bluish translucent magnetic liquid obtained by compressing gaseous oxygen and then cooling it below its boiling point; used as an oxidizer in rocket propellants
- LOSES verb
- fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
- ROSES noun
- any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
- RISES noun
- a growth in strength or number or importance
Puzzle 3: FORGEDS to CONKERS
Show the solution
- G becomes K
- F becomes C
- D becomes R
- R becomes N
Words in this ladder
- FORGEDS verb
- create by hammering
- FORKEDS verb
- lift with a pitchfork
- CORKEDS verb
- close a bottle with a cork
- CORKERS noun
- (dated slang) a remarkable or excellent thing or person
- CONKERS noun
- the inedible nutlike seed of the horse chestnut
Puzzle 4: UMP to LAST
Show the solution
- add L
- U becomes I
- M becomes S
- P becomes T
- I becomes A
Words in this ladder
- UMP noun
- an official at a baseball game
- LUMP noun
- a compact mass
- LIMP noun
- the uneven manner of walking that results from an injured leg
- LISP noun
- a speech defect that involves pronouncing `s' like voiceless `th' and `z' like voiced `th'
- LIST noun
- a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics)
- LAST noun
- the temporal end; the concluding time
Puzzle 5: BRENT to SHAWL
Show the solution
- T becomes S
- N becomes W
- B becomes C
- R becomes H
- E becomes A
- C becomes S
- S becomes L
Words in this ladder
- BRENT noun
- small dark geese that breed in the north and migrate southward
- BRENS noun
- a submachine gun operated by gas pressure; used by the British in World War II
- BREWS noun
- drink made by steeping and boiling and fermenting rather than distilling
- CREWS noun
- the men and women who man a vehicle (ship, aircraft, etc.)
- CHEWS noun
- a wad of something chewable as tobacco
- CHAWS noun
- a wad of something chewable as tobacco
- SHAWS noun
- United States clarinetist and leader of a swing band (1910-2004)
- SHAWL noun
- cloak consisting of an oblong piece of cloth used to cover the head and shoulders
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