Word ladder answers for September 3, 2026
The daily ladder for Thursday, September 3, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was GAGES to PANEL, solvable in 3 steps, and the longest was POUFS to CROAKS, 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: GAGES to PANEL
Show the solution
- G becomes P
- G becomes N
- S becomes L
Words in this ladder
- GAGES noun
- street names for marijuana
- PAGES noun
- one side of one leaf (of a book or magazine or newspaper or letter etc.) or the written or pictorial matter it contains
- PANES noun
- sheet glass cut in shapes for windows or doors
- PANEL noun
- sheet that forms a distinct (usually flat and rectangular) section or component of something
Puzzle 2: GOLF to BALD
Show the solution
- F becomes D
- G becomes B
- O becomes A
Words in this ladder
- GOLF noun
- a game played on a large open course with 9 or 18 holes; the object is use as few strokes as possible in playing all the holes
- GOLD noun
- coins made of gold
- BOLD noun
- a typeface with thick heavy lines
- BALD verb
- grow bald; lose hair on one's head
Puzzle 3: POUFS to CROAKS
Show the solution
- U becomes O
- P becomes R
- F becomes K
- add C
- O becomes A
Words in this ladder
- POUFS noun
- offensive term for an openly homosexual man
- POOFS noun
- offensive term for an openly homosexual man
- ROOFS noun
- a protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
- ROOKS noun
- (chess) the piece that can move any number of unoccupied squares in a direction parallel to the sides of the chessboard
- CROOKS noun
- someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
- CROAKS noun
- a harsh hoarse utterance (as of a frog)
Puzzle 4: SIRS to BASTES
Show the solution
- R becomes T
- S becomes B
- add E
- I becomes A
- add S
Words in this ladder
- SIRS noun
- term of address for a man
- SITS verb
- be seated
- BITS noun
- a small piece or quantity of something
- BITES noun
- a wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person
- BATES verb
- moderate or restrain; lessen the force of
- BASTES noun
- a loose temporary sewing stitch to hold layers of fabric together
Puzzle 5: SONAR to LEPAS
Show the solution
- S becomes D
- R becomes S
- D becomes L
- O becomes E
- N becomes P
Words in this ladder
- SONAR noun
- a measuring instrument that sends out an acoustic pulse in water and measures distances in terms of the time for the echo of the pulse to return
- DONAR noun
- the Teutonic god of thunder; counterpart of Norse Thor
- DONAS noun
- a Spanish courtesy title or form of address for a woman
- LONAS noun
- one species: yellow ageratum
- LENAS noun
- a Russian river in Siberia; flows northward into the Laptev Sea
- LEPAS noun
- type genus of the family Lepadidae
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