Cladder Game: The 60-Second Word Ladder Explained

Cladder is a free daily word game that gives you 60 seconds to solve 10 short words in a chain. Each answer is found by changing exactly one letter of the previous word to match a new clue, a timed twist on the classic word ladder puzzle invented by Lewis Carroll. A fresh puzzle is released every day, just like Wordle.

What Is the Cladder Game?

Cladder is a daily browser puzzle in which players work through ten clues in a chain. Each answer is connected to the one before it: you take the current word, change exactly one letter, and arrive at the next answer. The whole word chain runs against a 60-second countdown, so speed matters as much as vocabulary in this timed puzzle.

The concept it builds on is the word ladder, a puzzle form invented by Lewis Carroll — the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland — in 1878. Carroll called it "Wordlinks" when it first appeared in Vanity Fair magazine, and it has been a puzzle-book staple ever since. Cladder takes that Victorian pastime and compresses it into a one-minute sprint: daily puzzles, an archive of past games, multiple play modes, and shareable scores.

Unlike Wordle, which gives you six guesses for a single word, Cladder inverts the challenge: the words themselves are easy (three or four letters), but solving ten of them in sixty seconds keeps the pressure on.

How to Play Cladder: Rules Explained

The rules of Cladder are simple, which is part of its appeal:

1. Read the seed word and clue. Every Cladder starts with a three- or four-letter starter word plus a short definition — for example, seed word CASH with the clue "to run fast."
2. Change one letter. Transform the previous word into the answer by changing exactly one letter (CASH → DASH by replacing C with D). Each new clue must be solved from the word you just entered: after DASH, a clue like "a plate of food" becomes DISH by changing A to I.
3. Beat the 60-second clock. There are no penalties for wrong guesses, so guess freely. If you stall, the game will eventually highlight the letter that needs to change — but the clock keeps running, so do not rely on it.

Most versions give you one skip per round (some offer two). Using it reveals the correct answer but costs five seconds of your sixty, so save it for a clue that leaves you completely blank.

On desktop you type the full word; on mobile the fastest option is selection mode, where you tap the tile you want to change and enter just the new letter.

Cladder Game Modes

Cladder is not a one-setting game. Depending on which site hosts it, you can choose from several modes:

• Normal mode. The standard experience: 60 seconds, ten clues, one skip available, and letter hints if you stall.
• Hard mode. Skips are disabled and stuck letters are never highlighted. A completed hard-mode score gets an asterisk, showing other players you took the challenge.
• Selection mode. Tap a tile to change its letter instead of typing whole words — the fastest way to play on mobile.
• Teacher mode. No timer, designed for cooperative classroom play.

Most hosts also offer dark and light colour themes.

Where Can You Play Cladder?

Cladder is a browser game, so there is nothing to download — it runs on any phone, tablet, or computer. It is hosted on several Wordle-variant fan sites, including dordle.online, wordle-game.co, wordle-unlimited.io, and letterboxed.io, all of which carry a free Cladder page alongside their other daily games.

A note on provenance: unlike the official New York Times games, Cladder's original creator is not publicly credited on these hosting sites. One new puzzle is published daily, and most hosts keep a numbered archive of past puzzles, so you can play earlier days at your own pace. For more games in this format, browse our list of daily puzzle games.

Strategies and Tips to Win Cladder

Ten words in sixty seconds means roughly six seconds per clue — tight, but very beatable with the right approach. Here are the tactics that separate fast solvers from stalled ones:

• Read the clue, not the word. The answer comes from the definition. Solve the clue first in your head, then check which single letter changes to reach it.
• Keep wrong guesses flowing. There is no penalty for incorrect answers, so do not freeze. Type your best guess and move on.
• Use selection mode on mobile. Tapping a single tile instead of retyping the word saves a second or more per answer — over ten clues, that decides whether you finish.
• Save your skip for a genuine blank. Spending five seconds is worth it when a clue gives you nothing, but not on one you could have solved in three.
• Learn the common ladder vocabulary. Cladder answers tend to be short, familiar English words. The more three- and four-letter words you know, the faster the swaps come. Our word puzzle strategies guide has more vocabulary drills for speed solvers.

Cladder vs Other Word Games

How does Cladder stack up against its word-ladder cousins and the broader Wordle family? Here is a quick comparison:

If you enjoy Cladder, Weaver is the natural next stop — it is the untimed, meditative version of the same word-ladder idea, where you weave from one given word to another by changing one letter at a time.

Why Cladder Is Worth Your Daily Minute

Wordle proved that a one-puzzle-a-day habit can become part of millions of people's routines. Cladder bets on the same ritual but trades Wordle's calm deduction for adrenaline: a single minute, ten quick wins, and a score you can improve every day. The archive means you can binge a week's worth of puzzles on your first visit, and teacher mode works well as a classroom vocabulary exercise.

The format is quietly effective for vocabulary building. Because each answer differs from the last by one letter, you are constantly comparing near-words (CASH, DASH, DISH), which reinforces spelling patterns and word families without feeling like study. If you like quick-fire daily formats, also try the Hurdle word game, another timed Wordle-style challenge.