Word ladder answers for October 18, 2026
The daily ladder for Sunday, October 18, 2026 had 5 puzzles. The quickest was SWEPT to TWEET, solvable in 2 steps, and the longest was CORDS to BATHE, 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: SWEPT to TWEET
Show the solution
- P becomes E
- S becomes T
Words in this ladder
- SWEPT verb
- sweep across or over
- SWEET noun
- English phonetician; one of the founders of modern phonetics (1845-1912)
- TWEET noun
- a weak chirping sound as of a small bird
Puzzle 2: KINK to PIGS
Show the solution
- K becomes P
- K becomes S
- N becomes G
Words in this ladder
- KINK noun
- a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (`rick' and `wrick' are British)
- PINK noun
- a light shade of red
- PINS noun
- a piece of jewelry that is pinned onto the wearer's garment
- PIGS noun
- domestic swine
Puzzle 3: BIRD to BLOOM
Show the solution
- R becomes N
- add L
- I becomes O
- N becomes O
- D becomes M
Words in this ladder
- BIRD noun
- warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
- BIND noun
- something that hinders as if with bonds
- BLIND noun
- people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
- BLOND noun
- a person with fair skin and hair
- BLOOD noun
- the fluid (red in vertebrates) that is pumped through the body by the heart and contains plasma, blood cells, and platelets
- BLOOM noun
- the organic process of bearing flowers
Puzzle 4: HYPE to BOMB
Show the solution
- Y becomes O
- P becomes M
- H becomes C
- E becomes B
- C becomes B
Words in this ladder
- HYPE noun
- blatant or sensational promotion
- HOPE noun
- a specific instance of feeling hopeful
- HOME noun
- where you live at a particular time
- COME noun
- the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
- COMB noun
- a flat device with narrow pointed teeth on one edge; disentangles or arranges hair
- BOMB noun
- an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions
Puzzle 5: CORDS to BATHE
Show the solution
- D becomes E
- O becomes A
- C becomes B
- R becomes T
- E becomes H
- S becomes E
Words in this ladder
- CORDS noun
- cotton trousers made of corduroy cloth
- CORES noun
- a small group of indispensable persons or things
- CARES noun
- the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
- BARES verb
- lay bare
- BATES verb
- moderate or restrain; lessen the force of
- BATHS noun
- a vessel containing liquid in which something is immersed (as to process it or to maintain it at a constant temperature or to lubricate it)
- BATHE noun
- the act of swimming
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