Word ladder answers for May 27, 2026
The daily ladder for Wednesday, May 27, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was PAY to PEG, solvable in 3 steps, and the longest was TINY to MAKES, 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: PAY to PEG
Show the solution
- Y becomes T
- A becomes E
- T becomes G
Words in this ladder
- PAY noun
- something that remunerates
- PAT noun
- the sound made by a gentle blow
- PET noun
- a domesticated animal kept for companionship or amusement
- PEG noun
- a wooden pin pushed or driven into a surface
Puzzle 2: HOES to TOAD
Show the solution
- H becomes T
- S becomes D
- E becomes A
Words in this ladder
- HOES noun
- a tool with a flat blade attached at right angles to a long handle
- TOES noun
- one of the digits of the foot
- TOED verb
- walk so that the toes assume an indicated position or direction
- TOAD noun
- any of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species
Puzzle 3: TINY to MAKES
Show the solution
- Y becomes S
- I becomes A
- T becomes M
- add E
- N becomes K
Words in this ladder
- TINY adjective
- very small
- TINS noun
- a silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion; used in many alloys and to coat other metals to prevent corrosion; obtained chiefly from cassiterite where it occurs as tin oxide
- TANS noun
- a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
- MANS noun
- an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
- MANES noun
- a Persian prophet who founded Manichaeism (216-276)
- MAKES noun
- a recognizable kind
Puzzle 4: LEASE to BEECH
Show the solution
- E becomes H
- S becomes C
- L becomes B
- A becomes E
Words in this ladder
- LEASE noun
- property that is leased or rented out or let
- LEASH noun
- restraint consisting of a rope (or light chain) used to restrain an animal
- LEACH noun
- the process of leaching
- BEACH noun
- an area of sand sloping down to the water of a sea or lake
- BEECH noun
- any of several large deciduous trees with rounded spreading crowns and smooth grey bark and small sweet edible triangular nuts enclosed in burs; north temperate regions
Puzzle 5: ACES to TABES
Show the solution
- C becomes P
- add T
- P becomes B
Words in this ladder
- ACES noun
- the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
- APES noun
- any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all
- TAPES noun
- a long thin piece of cloth or paper as used for binding or fastening
- TABES noun
- wasting of the body during a chronic disease
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