How to play Stepwise

The rules

• You get a start word and a target word of the same length. Most days they are four letters long; Saturdays use five, and the odd Sunday uses three or five.
• Each rung changes exactly one letter of the word above it, in the same position. You cannot add, remove or rearrange letters.
• Every rung must be in our word list. British and American spellings are both accepted, so COLOUR and COLOR both count, but names and abbreviations do not.
• No word can appear twice in your ladder, and the start word counts as used.
• A ladder can be at most 25 steps long. When you are one letter away from the target, type the target to finish.

Undo and Start over are free, so experiment as much as you like before you finish. Your ladder is only sent when you reach the target, and you get one scored ladder a day.

How scoring works

Par is the fewest steps the puzzle can be solved in using everyday words only. Your score has three parts.

• Steps: finish in par for 100 points. Every step over par costs 10, but you never drop below 30. Every step under par, which needs a rarer word, earns 25 more.
• Originality: up to 30 bonus points, based on how few other players used your in-between words today. Each word is rated, and the bonus is the average across all your in-between words. Very common words are treated as if lots of people had already used them, so they add almost nothing even if you play first.
• Hints: each hint costs 8 points, and you get five a day.

The originality bonus is live. As more people play and pick the same words as you, it drifts down, so your score settles over the day.

Tips and strategy

Work backwards from the target

The start is rarely the hard part. List the words one letter away from the target first, then look for one of them that is also close to where you are. If the target is FIRE, its neighbours include FARE, FIRM, HIRE, WIRE, FIVE and FILE, and any of those makes a good landing spot to aim at.

Fix letters that already match

Compare the two words letter by letter. A letter that is already right, in the right place, can usually be left alone, so each step should move a wrong letter to its final value. If you are changing a letter that was already correct, you are probably adding a step.

Use the vowel as a pivot

When you are stuck, change the vowel. Swapping A for I or O for U keeps the consonants you have built up and opens a fresh set of neighbours: LAMP to LIMP, CAT to COT, BEND to BAND. Many par routes hinge on a single vowel change in the middle.

When a rarer word pays

Par only counts everyday words, so the full word list sometimes allows a shorter route. Each step saved is worth 25 points, more than the whole originality bonus, so it is always worth a look. Even when a rarer word does not shorten the ladder, it can still help: a route of the same length through unusual words earns a much bigger originality bonus than the obvious one. One ordinary word in the middle dilutes the bonus, because it is an average.

Spend hints carefully

A hint shows the next rung on a shortest everyday route from the word you are on, and how many steps remain. At 8 points it costs less than one extra step, so if you are about to wander two or three steps over par, a hint is the cheaper option. Asking again from the same word shows the same answer without charging you twice. Undo back to a word with a good route before you ask, because a hint from a dead end may not exist.

A worked example

This is a made-up ladder, not a real puzzle. Say you are asked to turn LAMP into FIRE. The two words share no letters in the same place, so every letter has to change and par can be no lower than 4.

1. LAMP to LAME: change P to E. The last letter is now right.
2. LAME to FAME: change L to F. The first letter is now right.
3. FAME to FARE: change M to R.
4. FARE to FIRE: change the vowel, and you are there in 4 steps.

That is par, worth 100 points, but every word in it is common, so the originality bonus will be small. LAMP, LIMP, LIME, LIRE, FIRE is also 4 steps, and LIRE (the plural of lira) is a word few players will think of, so it scores a better bonus. A route like LAMP, LAME, LIME, LIFE, FIFE, FIRE takes 5 steps and drops to 90 before any bonus.

Finished today's ladder and want another? Every finished puzzle and its par route is in the Stepwise answers archive, and the other daily games are on the dailies page.

Frequently asked questions

What is a word ladder?

A word ladder turns one word into another by changing a single letter at a time, and every step has to be a real word. Lewis Carroll invented the puzzle in 1877 and called it Doublets.

What does par mean in Stepwise?

Par is the fewest steps the ladder can be done in using everyday words. Matching par scores 100 points, each extra step costs 10 (never below 30), and each step under par, using a rarer word, earns 25.

Are American spellings allowed?

Yes. British and American spellings are both accepted, along with common variants. Names and abbreviations are not.

How much do Stepwise hints cost?

Each hint costs 8 points and you get five a day. A hint shows the next rung on a shortest everyday route from the word you are on.

Is Stepwise free?

Yes. Stepwise is free to play in any web browser, on a phone or a computer. There is nothing to install and no account to make.

What time does the new Stepwise ladder come out?

At midnight UK time (GMT in winter, BST in summer). Everyone in the world gets the same ladder on the same day. If you already have the old puzzle open at midnight, you have 30 minutes to finish it and still have it count.

Can I play past Stepwise puzzles?

Yes. Tap the calendar (Past puzzles) button in the game to replay any of the last seven days. Archive plays are scored with the same rules but are just for fun: they are not ranked and do not count towards your streak.

Where can I see yesterday's Stepwise answer?

The Stepwise answers archive shows every finished puzzle with its solution. Today's answer never appears there until the day is over.