Word ladder answers for September 7, 2026
The daily ladder for Monday, September 7, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was CAPS to BANKS, solvable in 3 steps, and the longest was TACH to SOLED, 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: CAPS to BANKS
Show the solution
- P becomes N
- C becomes B
- add K
Words in this ladder
- CAPS noun
- a tight-fitting headdress
- CANS noun
- airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
- BANS noun
- a decree that prohibits something
- BANKS noun
- English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
Puzzle 2: HOP to WHAM
Show the solution
- O becomes A
- P becomes M
- add W
Words in this ladder
- HOP noun
- the act of hopping; jumping upward or forward (especially on one foot)
- HAP noun
- an accidental happening
- HAM noun
- meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)
- WHAM verb
- hit hard
Puzzle 3: FIVER to MILLET
Show the solution
- V becomes L
- add L
- R becomes T
- F becomes M
Words in this ladder
- FIVER noun
- a United States bill worth 5 dollars
- FILER noun
- a party who files a notice with a law court
- FILLER noun
- used for filling cracks or holes in a surface
- FILLET noun
- a boneless steak cut from the tenderloin of beef
- MILLET noun
- any of various small-grained annual cereal and forage grasses of the genera Panicum, Echinochloa, Setaria, Sorghum, and Eleusine
Puzzle 4: DOUR to STAIR
Show the solution
- D becomes S
- U becomes A
- O becomes T
- add I
Words in this ladder
- DOUR adjective
- stubbornly unyielding; ; ; ; - T.S.Eliot
- SOUR noun
- a cocktail made of a liquor (especially whiskey or gin) mixed with lemon or lime juice and sugar
- SOAR noun
- the act of rising upward into the air
- STAR noun
- (astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
- STAIR noun
- support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway
Puzzle 5: TACH to SOLED
Show the solution
- H becomes K
- C becomes L
- K becomes E
- T becomes S
- A becomes O
- E becomes D
- add E
Words in this ladder
- TACH noun
- measuring instrument for indicating speed of rotation
- TACK noun
- the heading or position of a vessel relative to the trim of its sails
- TALK noun
- an exchange of ideas via conversation
- TALE noun
- a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
- SALE noun
- a particular instance of selling
- SOLE noun
- the underside of footwear or a golf club
- SOLD verb
- exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent
- SOLED verb
- put a new sole on
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