Word ladder answers for September 20, 2026
The daily ladder for Sunday, September 20, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was KINDS to ZINCS, solvable in 3 steps, and the longest was OREO to NERVED, 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: KINDS to ZINCS
Show the solution
- D becomes G
- K becomes Z
- G becomes C
Words in this ladder
- KINDS noun
- a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
- KINGS noun
- a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
- ZINGS noun
- a brief high-pitched buzzing or humming sound
- ZINCS noun
- a bluish-white lustrous metallic element; brittle at ordinary temperatures but malleable when heated; used in a wide variety of alloys and in galvanizing iron; it occurs naturally as zinc sulphide in zinc blende
Puzzle 2: PAPS to SEALS
Show the solution
- P becomes L
- add E
- P becomes S
Words in this ladder
- PAPS noun
- worthless or oversimplified ideas
- PALS noun
- a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities
- PEALS noun
- a deep prolonged sound (as of thunder or large bells)
- SEALS noun
- fastener consisting of a resinous composition that is plastic when warm; used for sealing documents and parcels and letters
Puzzle 3: HES to SILOS
Show the solution
- add O
- add L
- H becomes S
- E becomes O
- O becomes I
Words in this ladder
- HES noun
- a very light colorless element that is one of the six inert gasses; the most difficult gas to liquefy; occurs in economically extractable amounts in certain natural gases (as those found in Texas and Kansas)
- HOES noun
- a tool with a flat blade attached at right angles to a long handle
- HOLES noun
- an opening into or through something
- SOLES noun
- a colloid that has a continuous liquid phase in which a solid is suspended in a liquid
- SOLOS noun
- any activity that is performed alone without assistance
- SILOS noun
- a cylindrical tower used for storing silage
Puzzle 4: FREES to THROWN
Show the solution
- F becomes T
- add H
- E becomes O
- E becomes W
- S becomes N
Words in this ladder
- FREES noun
- people who are free
- TREES noun
- a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
- THREES noun
- the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
- THROES noun
- violent pangs of suffering
- THROWS noun
- the act of throwing (propelling something with a rapid movement of the arm and wrist)
- THROWN verb
- propel through the air
Puzzle 5: OREO to NERVED
Show the solution
- O becomes S
- R becomes W
- O becomes E
- W becomes V
- add N
- add R
- S becomes D
Words in this ladder
- OREO noun
- chocolate cookie with white cream filling
- ORES noun
- a mineral that contains metal that is valuable enough to be mined
- OWES verb
- be obliged to pay or repay
- EWES noun
- a member of a people living in southern Benin and Togo and southeastern Ghana
- EVES noun
- (Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
- NEVES noun
- the upper part of a glacier (beyond the limit of perpetual snow) where the snow turns to ice
- NERVES noun
- an uneasy psychological state
- NERVED verb
- get ready for something difficult or unpleasant
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