Word Ladder Lab
Four-letter word ladder solver
Enter two reviewed four-letter words to find one shortest path between them. The graph and search run entirely in your browser.
Build a ladder
Choose two four-letter words
Letters A–Z only. Both words must be exactly four letters and belong to the reviewed Puzzled dictionary.
Ready for a pair
Choose two reviewed words, then find one shortest route through the graph.
The reviewed graph
A bounded dictionary with honest gaps
The graph comes from Puzzled’s licensed American English Hunspell/SCOWL source and the same general-audience exclusions used by daily Word Chain. Dictionary membership is a Puzzled validation decision, not a claim that every accepted entry is familiar in every context.
- reviewed words
- 2,661
- one-letter links
- 11,902
- connected components
- 110
Method
Why the result is shortest
Each word is a node. Two nodes share a link only when their words differ in exactly one position. Breadth-first search explores those links by distance, so the first finish it reaches uses the fewest possible changes in this graph.
Neighbor lists are sorted, which makes the displayed choice stable when several shortest paths exist.
Limits
What “no path” can mean
- Both endpoints must be four letters and belong to the reviewed Puzzled dictionary.
- Each link changes one letter while the other three stay in position.
- The solver returns one shortest path. Other paths of the same length may exist.
- An accepted word can still be isolated or belong to a different connected component.
Reason or play
Use the path as a lesson, not a daily spoiler
The strategy guide explains how to find bridges yourself. Daily Word Chain gives everyone the same fresh ladder and keeps its intended route hidden while you play.