diff --git a/reasoning_gym/algorithmic/word_ladder.py b/reasoning_gym/algorithmic/word_ladder.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7ae46be5
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+++ b/reasoning_gym/algorithmic/word_ladder.py
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+"""Word ladder task generator"""
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from random import Random
+from typing import List, Optional, Set, Dict, Tuple
+from collections import deque
+from reasoning_gym.data import read_data_file
+
+from ..factory import ProceduralDataset, register_dataset
+
+@dataclass
+class WordLadderConfig:
+    """Configuration for word ladder task generation"""
+    
+    min_word_length: int = 3       # Minimum word length
+    max_word_length: int = 5       # Maximum word length
+    min_chain_length: int = 3      # Minimum transformations required
+    max_chain_length: int = 11     # Maximum transformations required
+    seed: Optional[int] = None
+    size: int = 500                # Virtual dataset size
+
+    def validate(self) -> None:
+        """Validate configuration parameters"""
+        assert self.min_word_length > 2, "min_word_length must be 3"
+        assert self.max_word_length >= self.min_word_length, "max_word_length must be >= min_word_length"
+        assert self.max_word_length <= 5, "max_word_length must be 5"
+        assert self.min_chain_length > 2, "min_chain_length must be 3"
+        assert self.max_chain_length >= self.min_chain_length, "max_chain_length must be >= min_chain_length"
+
+class WordLadderDataset(ProceduralDataset):
+    """Generates word ladder transformation tasks"""
+
+    def __init__(self, config: WordLadderConfig):
+        super().__init__(config=config, seed=config.seed, size=config.size)
+        
+        # Load words from CSV file
+        self.word_sets = self._load_words_from_csv()
+
+    def _load_words_from_csv(self) -> Dict[int, Set[str]]:
+        """Load words from CSV file organized by length"""
+        import csv
+        from io import StringIO
+        word_sets = {}
+        
+        try:
+            # Get CSV content as string
+            csv_content = read_data_file("words.csv")
+            
+            # Use StringIO to create a file-like object from the string
+            csv_file = StringIO(csv_content)
+            reader = csv.DictReader(csv_file)
+            
+            for row in reader:
+                # Process each word length column
+                for length in range(3, 6):
+                    col_name = f'{length}_letter'
+                    word = row.get(col_name, '')
+                    
+                    if not word:  # Skip empty entries
+                        continue
+                        
+                    if self.config.min_word_length <= length <= self.config.max_word_length:
+                        word_sets.setdefault(length, set()).add(word.upper())
+                        
+        except Exception as e:
+            raise RuntimeError(f"Error processing words.csv content: {e}") from e
+        
+        # Validate we have words for each length
+        for length in range(self.config.min_word_length, self.config.max_word_length + 1):
+            if length not in word_sets or not word_sets[length]:
+                raise ValueError(f"No valid words found for length {length}")
+                
+        return word_sets
+
+    def _differs_by_one(self, word1: str, word2: str) -> bool:
+        """Check if two words differ by exactly one letter"""
+        if len(word1) != len(word2):
+            return False
+        differences = 0
+        for c1, c2 in zip(word1, word2):
+            if c1 != c2:
+                differences += 1
+                if differences > 1:
+                    return False
+        return differences == 1
+
+    def _find_path(self, start: str, end: str, word_set: Set[str]) -> Optional[List[str]]:
+        """Find shortest path between start and end words using BFS"""
+        if start == end:
+            return [start]
+        
+        queue = deque([(start, [start])])
+        visited = {start}
+        
+        while queue:
+            current, path = queue.popleft()
+            
+            # Try changing one letter at a time
+            word_chars = list(current)
+            for i in range(len(word_chars)):
+                for c in 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ':
+                    if word_chars[i] == c:
+                        continue
+                        
+                    # Create new word
+                    word_chars[i] = c
+                    new_word = ''.join(word_chars)
+                    
+                    # Check if it's a valid word and not visited
+                    if new_word in word_set and new_word not in visited:
+                        new_path = path + [new_word]
+                        if new_word == end:
+                            return new_path
+                        
+                        queue.append((new_word, new_path))
+                        visited.add(new_word)
+                
+                # Restore original character
+                word_chars[i] = current[i]
+        
+        return None
+
+    def _generate_word_pair(self, rng: Random, length: int) -> Tuple[str, str, List[str]]:
+        """Generate valid start/end words with solution path"""
+        word_set = self.word_sets[length]
+        max_attempts = 500
+        
+        for _ in range(max_attempts):
+            start, end = rng.sample(sorted(word_set), 2)
+            path = self._find_path(start, end, word_set)
+            if path and self.config.min_chain_length <= len(path) <= self.config.max_chain_length:
+                return start, end, path
+        
+        raise RuntimeError(f"Failed to find valid pair for length {length} after {max_attempts} attempts")
+
+    def __getitem__(self, idx: int) -> dict:
+        """Generate a single word ladder task"""
+        rng = Random(self.seed + idx)
+        length = rng.randint(self.config.min_word_length, self.config.max_word_length)
+        start, end, path = self._generate_word_pair(rng, length)
+        
+        return {
+            "question": f"Transform the word '{start}' into '{end}' by changing one letter at a time. Each step must create a valid English word (including plurals) and keep the same word length. Show the sequence of words needed.",
+            "answer": ",".join(path),
+            "metadata": {
+                "start_word": start,
+                "end_word": end,
+                "word_length": length,
+                "chain_length": len(path)
+            }
+        }
+
+
+register_dataset("word_ladder", WordLadderDataset, WordLadderConfig)
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