Word ladder answers for March 21, 2026
The daily ladder for Saturday, March 21, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was HIRE to TILE, solvable in 2 steps, and the longest was CHADS to SARDA, 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: TOMB to MOBS
Show the solution
- B becomes S
- T becomes M
- M becomes B
Words in this ladder
- TOMB noun
- a place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone)
- TOMS noun
- (ethnic slur) offensive and derogatory name for a Black man who is abjectly servile and deferential to Whites
- MOMS noun
- informal terms for a mother
- MOBS noun
- a disorderly crowd of people
Puzzle 2: HIRE to TILE
Show the solution
- H becomes T
- R becomes L
Words in this ladder
- HIRE noun
- a newly hired employee
- TIRE noun
- hoop that covers a wheel
- TILE noun
- a flat thin rectangular slab (as of fired clay or rubber or linoleum) used to cover surfaces
Puzzle 3: BOWS to SWINES
Show the solution
- B becomes W
- W becomes N
- O becomes I
- add E
- add S
Words in this ladder
- BOWS noun
- a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
- WOWS noun
- a joke that seems extremely funny
- WONS noun
- the basic unit of money in South Korea
- WINS noun
- a victory (as in a race or other competition)
- WINES noun
- fermented juice (of grapes especially)
- SWINES noun
- stout-bodied short-legged omnivorous animals
Puzzle 4: LUTES to MAGMAS
Show the solution
- U becomes A
- T becomes M
- E becomes A
- L becomes M
- add G
Words in this ladder
- LUTES noun
- a substance for packing a joint or coating a porous surface to make it impervious to gas or liquid
- LATES noun
- a genus of large percoid fishes of fresh and brackish water
- LAMES noun
- someone who doesn't understand what is going on
- LAMAS noun
- a Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism
- MAMAS noun
- informal terms for a mother
- MAGMAS noun
- molten rock in the earth's crust
Puzzle 5: CHADS to SARDA
Show the solution
- C becomes S
- A becomes E
- H becomes E
- E becomes N
- E becomes A
- N becomes R
- S becomes A
Words in this ladder
- CHADS noun
- a small piece of paper that is supposed to be removed when a hole is punched in a card or paper tape
- SHADS noun
- bony flesh of herring-like fish usually caught during their migration to fresh water for spawning; especially of Atlantic coast
- SHEDS noun
- an outbuilding with a single story; used for shelter or storage
- SEEDS noun
- a small hard fruit
- SENDS verb
- cause to go somewhere
- SANDS noun
- the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean
- SARDS noun
- a deep orange-red variety of chalcedony
- SARDA noun
- bonitos
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