The daily puzzle record
Daily Word Ladder for 2026-10-30
The daily puzzle for 2026-10-30 connects FISH to GIVE. Change one letter at each step; a shortest route takes 6 moves. Play first, then open the hints below if you need them.
An earlier daily ladder
October 30, 2026
This date's word ladder
Starting word
Target word
Shortest route: 6 moves
This is a puzzle from Word Ladder Daily. Its hints and solutions use our dictionary and daily schedule. Playing an archived puzzle shares progress with that date’s daily board in this browser.
Progressive hints
Open only as much help as you want. Each hint follows the first step of one shortest solution from the starting word.
Hint 1: where to look
Focus on position 4 in FISH. The other three letters can stay unchanged for your first move.
Hint 2: a partial next word
_ _ _ T
Hint 3: the next word
FIST
The complete answer
This route uses 6 letter changes and 7 words, including both endpoints. Open the solution when you are ready for spoilers.
Reveal the full ladder and step explanations
One shortest route
FISH → FIST → LIST → LIFT → LIFE → LIVE → GIVE
Step 1: FISH to FIST
Replace H with T in position 4. The other three letters stay in place, so this is exactly one substitution.
Step 2: FIST to LIST
Replace F with L in position 1. The other three letters stay in place, so this is exactly one substitution.
Step 3: LIST to LIFT
Replace S with F in position 3. The other three letters stay in place, so this is exactly one substitution.
Step 4: LIFT to LIFE
Replace T with E in position 4. The other three letters stay in place, so this is exactly one substitution.
Step 5: LIFE to LIVE
Replace F with V in position 3. The other three letters stay in place, so this is exactly one substitution.
Step 6: LIVE to GIVE
Replace L with G in position 1. The other three letters stay in place, so this is exactly one substitution.
Every word in this route is accepted by our curated four-letter dictionary. The route is shortest within that dictionary; another valid route may have the same number of moves.
Keep the wordplay going
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