Today's Crossclimb hints and answer for September 16, 2026
Sep 16Wednesday, September 16, 2026 · #869
Today's Crossclimb Clues
Reveal each rung to trace the seven-word transformation path from the starting word to the ending word. Every step changes one letter.
Published puzzle facts
Crossclimb ladder details
The ladder has 7 rungs. Successive changes are M→S at position 4, Z→C at position 1, S→L at position 4, O→A at position 3, L→T at position 4, O→H at position 2.
Previous seven puzzles
Tools & Practice
More Ways to Play & Solve Crossclimb
Find anagrams and letter-step words with Word Finder, or practice 5-letter puzzles with Guess the Word.
Crossclimb FAQ & Hints
How many rungs are in today's Crossclimb ladder?
Today's ladder has 7 rungs, each a 4-letter word.
What are today's Crossclimb middle-rung clues?
The clues for today's five middle rungs are: (1) Places where you can safely see lions (2) Makes a sound like a dove (3) Hip or trendy (4) Burnable form of carbon (5) Garment to protect from chilly weather
How does the Crossclimb bookend word work?
The top and bottom rungs of the ladder share one bookend clue describing how the two words relate to each other, even though the ladder itself climbs word-by-word from top to bottom.
Why do adjacent rungs in a Crossclimb ladder differ by exactly one letter?
Crossclimb is a word ladder: each rung changes exactly one letter from the rung above it while staying the same length, so the whole climb reads as one continuous chain of near-identical words.
Do you need to solve the middle rungs in order?
No. You can guess the five middle rungs from their clues in any order, but the real game only accepts the ladder once you arrange all seven words into their correct climbing sequence.
What if you can't work out how the bookend words connect?
Solve the five middle rungs first. Once the one-letter chain is filled in, the relationship between the top and bottom bookend words is usually much easier to spot.
What was yesterday's Crossclimb answer?
For yesterday's Crossclimb (#868), the solution words included BACK, BARK, LARK, LACK, LICK, PICK.