Word ladder answers for April 20, 2026
The daily ladder for Monday, April 20, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was TONS to YORE, solvable in 3 steps, and the longest was POKES to FULLY, which needs at least 5.
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: TONS to YORE
Show the solution
- S becomes E
- N becomes R
- T becomes Y
Words in this ladder
- TONS noun
- a large number or amount
- TONE noun
- the quality of a person's voice
- TORE noun
- commonly the lowest molding at the base of a column
- YORE noun
- time long past
Puzzle 2: SOY to MAN
Show the solution
- O becomes A
- S becomes M
- Y becomes N
Words in this ladder
- SOY noun
- a source of oil; used for forage and soil improvement and as food
- SAY noun
- the chance to speak
- MAY noun
- the month following April and preceding June
- MAN noun
- an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
Puzzle 3: POKES to FULLY
Show the solution
- K becomes L
- E becomes L
- O becomes U
- P becomes F
- S becomes Y
Words in this ladder
- POKES noun
- tall coarse perennial American herb having small white flowers followed by blackish-red berries on long drooping racemes; young fleshy stems are edible; berries and root are poisonous
- POLES noun
- a long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic
- POLLS noun
- the place where people vote
- PULLS noun
- the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you
- FULLS noun
- the time when the Moon is fully illuminated
- FULLY adverb
- to the greatest degree or extent; completely or entirely; (`full' in this sense is used as a combining form)
Puzzle 4: RIDS to LARK
Show the solution
- R becomes B
- I becomes A
- D becomes R
- S becomes K
- B becomes L
Words in this ladder
- RIDS verb
- relieve from
- BIDS noun
- an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
- BADS noun
- that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency
- BARS noun
- gymnastic apparatus consisting of two parallel wooden rods supported on uprights
- BARK noun
- tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants
- LARK noun
- North American songbirds having a yellow breast
Puzzle 5: MIL to COUE
Show the solution
- L becomes D
- I becomes U
- M becomes C
- D becomes E
- add O
Words in this ladder
- MIL noun
- a Cypriot monetary unit equal to one thousandth of a pound
- MID adjective
- used in combination to denote the middle
- MUD noun
- water soaked soil; soft wet earth
- CUD noun
- food of a ruminant regurgitated to be chewed again
- CUE noun
- an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech
- COUE noun
- French psychotherapist who claimed that if one imagined one was getting better, one would get better (1857-1926)
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