LADDERWORDS Reviewed
#4 · THURSDAY 17 SEPT 2026
FOODSPINES
Par 6· Medium 4/7· …
4 letters change · 1 in place·2 stepping stones at par

How climbers did

Loading the census…

Our route

Tap any rung for its meaning.

0
1stepping stone
2stepping stone
3D → E
4O → I
5L → N
6M → P

Two stepping stones: the L (rung 1, for folds) and the M (rung 2, for molds) — each borrowed to keep a rung a real word, then given back before the end. There may be several par routes — the census above shows which ones climbers actually took.

The words

Foods

noun · plural

Substances eaten to sustain life and energy.

From Old English 'foda', meaning nourishment, related to Old Norse 'foðr' and to the verb 'feed'. It belongs to a very old Germanic family of words about nourishment. The word 'fodder' is a close cousin still used today.

Full entry on Wiktionary ↗

Pines

noun · plural

An evergreen tree with needle-like leaves and cones.

From Old English 'pin', borrowed from Latin 'pinus', the pine tree. Latin 'pinus' is related to a root meaning resin or pitch. The verb sense, meaning to long for something sadly, comes from a different Old English word entirely.

Full entry on Wiktionary ↗

Definitions give each word’s most common meaning — the full entries live at Wiktionary.