Daily Brain Teaser
Beat the heat with a word ladder — plus a bonus round of summer anagrams.
Sunday, July 12, 2026
Grab a pencil (or just your brain) — today we're climbing a word ladder, plus a bonus round of summer anagrams to unscramble. No trivia knowledge required, just wordplay.
Main Puzzle: Word Ladder — "Beat the Heat"
How it works: Starting with the word COLD, change just one letter at a time to form a new, valid English word. Do this three times in a row to arrive at the word WARM. Each clue below tells you what the missing word means — fill in the rungs of the ladder as you go.
COLD
______ — A thin rope, or the wire that powers your fan.
______ — You might play this game, or mail one for a birthday.
______ — A hospital wing, or what you do to fend off summer bugs ("___ off").
WARM
(Hint: each answer differs from the word before it by exactly one letter, in the same position.)
Bonus Round: Summer Anagrams
Unscramble each set of letters to reveal a word that belongs to a hot summer day. Every scramble uses the exact same letters as the answer — no extras, no missing ones.
ENIHSNUS
ELCISPOP
YLFERIF
KCOMMAH
EDANOMEL
Answers
Word Ladder: COLD → 1. CORD → 2. CARD → 3. WARD → WARM
Summer Anagrams: 4. ENIHSNUS → SUNSHINE 5. ELCISPOP → POPSICLE 6. YLFERIF → FIREFLY 7. KCOMMAH → HAMMOCK 8. EDANOMEL → LEMONADE
How'd you do? Come back tomorrow for another Daily Brain Teaser from The American Times.