Word Ladder
word · Wildcard, weekly
Change one letter at a time, and every rung has to be a real word. The shortest route from start to target scores highest.
Get from one word to another by changing a single letter at a time, where every step along the way has to be a real word too. There is always a shortest route and it is rarely the one you find first, which is why the score is about length rather than arrival.
When you will see it
Word Ladder is a Wildcard. It takes the fourth slot for a week at a time, on a rotation through twelve candidates.
The rules, in one line
Change one letter at a time, and every rung has to be a real word. The shortest route from start to target scores highest.
This is the same sentence the app shows above the board, so nothing here is a paraphrase of the real rule.