Word Ladder Race
Each player chooses a word with the same number of letters. Both players then try to make a word ladder between the two words. The player with the shortest ladder wins.Description
A word ladder is a sequence of words in which only one letter changes at each step. For example, a word ladder between WINE and BEER could be as follows:| WINE WINS WITS WETS BETS BEES BEER |
One player chooses a starting word, such as WINE. The other player then chooses an ending word of the same length, such as BEER. Both players then try to find a word ladder between the two chosen words. The player with shortest ladder wins the round.
If one player cannot find a ladder, the other player's score is the length of the words (eg 4 for 4-letter words). If neither player can find a ladder the round is a draw.
Variations
To make the game more exciting impose a time limit of five minutes.
For a more complicated variation of the game try Scrambled Word Ladder Race.
History
Word Ladders were first popularised as Doublets by the mathematician Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice in Wonderland. They feature in many books of word puzzles.