Word ladder answers for May 8, 2026
The daily ladder for Friday, May 8, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was GEE to TOE, solvable in 2 steps, and the longest was NITER to ROLLEDS, 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: MOPS to TOMB
Show the solution
- M becomes T
- P becomes M
- S becomes B
Words in this ladder
- MOPS noun
- cleaning implement consisting of absorbent material fastened to a handle; for cleaning floors
- TOPS noun
- the upper part of anything
- TOMS noun
- (ethnic slur) offensive and derogatory name for a Black man who is abjectly servile and deferential to Whites
- TOMB noun
- a place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone)
Puzzle 2: GEE to TOE
Show the solution
- G becomes T
- E becomes O
Words in this ladder
- GEE noun
- a unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity; used to indicate the force to which a body is subjected when it is accelerated
- TEE noun
- the starting place for each hole on a golf course
- TOE noun
- one of the digits of the foot
Puzzle 3: LAKES to SAVEDS
Show the solution
- L becomes S
- K becomes V
- add D
Words in this ladder
- LAKES noun
- a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
- SAKES noun
- a reason for wanting something done
- SAVES noun
- (sports) the act of preventing the opposition from scoring
- SAVEDS verb
- save from ruin, destruction, or harm
Puzzle 4: TRACT to TROPE
Show the solution
- T becomes E
- A becomes I
- C becomes P
- I becomes O
Words in this ladder
- TRACT noun
- an extended area of land
- TRACE noun
- a just detectable amount
- TRICE noun
- a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat)
- TRIPE noun
- lining of the stomach of a ruminant (especially a bovine) used as food
- TROPE noun
- language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
Puzzle 5: NITER to ROLLEDS
Show the solution
- N becomes B
- R becomes S
- T becomes L
- B becomes R
- add D
- add O
- I becomes L
Words in this ladder
- NITER noun
- (KNO3) used especially as a fertilizer and explosive
- BITER noun
- someone who bites
- BITES noun
- a wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person
- BILES noun
- a digestive juice secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder; aids in the digestion of fats
- RILES verb
- cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
- RILEDS verb
- cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
- ROILEDS verb
- be agitated
- ROLLEDS verb
- move by turning over or rotating
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