Meaning of word ladder | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A kind of puzzle in which one word must be transformed into another specified word of the same length by changing one letter at a time, each step yielding a valid intermediate word, as in lead → load → goad → gold.
2. A type of cryptic crossword clue in which the each word in the clue defines a single term each varying by a single letter, and all the terms together form a word ladder between the first half of the solution and the second half.

Examples

“But his real genius lay⟳ in the devising of many entirely new types of crossword, some of which have⟳ found enthusiastic imitators . 'Printer's Devilry', 'Playfair', and 'Word-Ladder' , for instance, were his invention”

“In the word ladder each rung is a six-letter word which has five letters in common with each of its neighbours (e.g. DISTIL, LISTED, STRIDE⟳, EDITOR, etc). The rungs to be entered in the diagram are not clued but must be deduced from the other rungs which are”

“Some of Morph's politically themed crosswords stick⟳ out: the puzzle where BLAIR changed to BROWN word-ladder-style in the grid via BLAIN/BRAIN/BRAWN and the one featuring various items claimed on expenses by MPs: DUCK ISLAND and so on.”

CEFR level