How to choose a branch in a four-letter word ladder

A word ladder changes one letter at a time, and every intermediate four-letter word must be accepted by the game's word list. The shortest route is not always obvious from the start. A word that looks closer to the target can leave you with awkward next moves, while a temporary detour can open a useful branch.

First, compare the start and target one position at a time. If three positions differ, any solution needs at least three moves, because one move can change only one position. That lower bound is a goal, not a promise: the words needed to change the letters in a convenient order may not exist.

Here is a teaching example that is not a pair in Word Ladder's puzzle catalog: COLD → WORM. The route COLD → CORD → WORD → WORM takes three moves. Each step changes exactly one letter, and all four words appear in the game's accepted-word list. Since COLD and WORM differ in three positions, this route reaches the three-move lower bound. From COLD, GOLD is also a valid first move, but it changes a position you eventually need to change again. Looking one or two words ahead helps you see why CORD is a more direct branch for this example.

When you get stuck, write down two possible next words and test what each one could lead to. You do not need to guess the entire solution in advance. If both branches close off, return to an earlier word and try a different letter position. A longer valid ladder is still a solution; finding the shortest one is an additional challenge. The accepted words vary between games, so test your candidate words in the game you are actually playing.

I created the free browser game Word Ladder (getwordladder.com). It offers four-letter Daily puzzles, Practice, Undo, and Hint; the branch example above explains a general technique, not today's answer. This article was drafted with AI assistance. AI also helped select candidate puzzle words for the game; the fixed puzzle catalog was checked for solvability with deterministic rules. Gameplay does not use live AI to decide a player's moves.