Word ladder answers for October 15, 2026
The daily ladder for Thursday, October 15, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was TELL to MEAL, solvable in 2 steps, and the longest was COOKER to HAMPER, which needs at least 6.
Solutions are folded away until you open them, so you can have a go first. We show one shortest path per puzzle. Plenty of ladders have two or three paths of the same length, so if yours doesn't match and has the same step count, it's just as good.
Puzzle 1: STICK to STUNT
Show the solution
- C becomes N
- K becomes T
- I becomes U
Words in this ladder
- STICK noun
- an implement consisting of a length of wood
- STINK noun
- a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
- STINT noun
- an unbroken period of time during which you do something
- STUNT noun
- a difficult or unusual or dangerous feat; usually done to gain attention
Puzzle 2: TELL to MEAL
Show the solution
- L becomes A
- T becomes M
Words in this ladder
- TELL noun
- a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer; according to legend an Austrian governor compelled him to shoot an apple from his son's head with his crossbow (which he did successfully without mishap)
- TEAL noun
- a blue-green color or pigment
- MEAL noun
- the food served and eaten at one time
Puzzle 3: BACK to BOUTS
Show the solution
- C becomes R
- K becomes S
- R becomes T
- add O
- A becomes U
Words in this ladder
- BACK noun
- the posterior part of a human (or animal) body from the neck to the end of the spine
- BARK noun
- tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants
- BARS noun
- gymnastic apparatus consisting of two parallel wooden rods supported on uprights
- BATS noun
- nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate
- BOATS noun
- a small vessel for travel on water
- BOUTS noun
- (sports) a division during which one team is on the offensive
Puzzle 4: BREED to TRIBAL
Show the solution
- E becomes A
- B becomes T
- E becomes I
- D becomes L
- add B
Words in this ladder
- BREED noun
- a special variety of domesticated animals within a species
- BREAD noun
- food made from dough of flour or meal and usually raised with yeast or baking powder and then baked
- TREAD noun
- a step in walking or running
- TRIAD noun
- the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
- TRIAL noun
- the act of testing something
- TRIBAL adjective
- relating to or characteristic of a tribe
Puzzle 5: COOKER to HAMPER
Show the solution
- K becomes P
- O becomes P
- C becomes T
- O becomes A
- P becomes M
- T becomes H
Words in this ladder
- COOKER noun
- a utensil for cooking
- COOPER noun
- United States industrialist who built the first American locomotive; founded Cooper Union in New York City to offer free courses in the arts and sciences (1791-1883)
- COPPER noun
- a ductile malleable reddish-brown corrosion-resistant diamagnetic metallic element; occurs in various minerals but is the only metal that occurs abundantly in large masses; used as an electrical and thermal conductor
- TOPPER noun
- a worker who makes or adds the top to something
- TAPPER noun
- a tavern keeper who taps kegs or casks
- TAMPER noun
- a tool for tamping (e.g., for tamping tobacco into a pipe bowl or a charge into a drill hole etc.)
- HAMPER noun
- a restraint that confines or restricts freedom (especially something used to tie down or restrain a prisoner)
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