🃏 LinkedIn Crossclimb 692 Answer — CARD, HARD, HARE, HATE, DATE, DAME, GAME
Published: March 23, 2026 · A two-word phrase for an activity like poker or bridge.
From the top of the ladder to the bottom, these seven words form a chain where each step changes just one letter. The theme? CARD GAME — both a card and a game are parts of the classic two-word phrase for activities like poker or bridge.
The Puzzle Journey
Five middle words, five clues. Each one felt approachable on its own — "HATE" for the opposite of love, "HARE" for the tortoise's overconfident rival, "DAME" for Notre-Dame, "HARD" for a tough puzzle rating, and "DATE" for today's calendar entry. But the real challenge was finding the correct ladder order and spotting what CARD and GAME had in common.
Once all five words were filled in, the ladder fell into place:
CARD → HARD (C-A-R-D → H-A-R-D: C→H at position 1) ✅
HARD → HARE (H-A-R-D → H-A-R-E: D→E at position 4) ✅
HARE → HATE (H-A-R-E → H-A-T-E: R→T at position 3) ✅
HATE → DATE (H-A-T-E → D-A-T-E: H→D at position 1) ✅
DATE → DAME (D-A-T-E → D-A-M-E: T→M at position 3) ✅
DAME → GAME (D-A-M-E → G-A-M-E: D→G at position 1) ✅
And the top and bottom — CARD and GAME — combine to spell CARD GAME, a classic phrase for activities like poker, bridge, solitaire, or go fish.
🃏 Crossclimb 692 Answer
A two-word phrase for an activity like poker or bridge.
Full Ladder
CARD (Card game — showing the theme)
↓ HARD
↓ HARE
↓ HATE
↓ DATE
↓ DAME
GAME (Card game — showing the theme)
Clue Breakdown
| Clue | Answer |
|---|---|
| Opposite of love | HATE |
| Animal that thought it could beat the tortoise | HARE |
| Notre ___ (famous cathedral in Paris) | DAME |
| Rating for a difficult puzzle (like a Sunday Crossclimb) | HARD |
| Today's is either March 23 or March 24 depending on when you play | DATE |
🧠 Lessons from This Puzzle
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The theme lives in the locked rows. CARD and GAME are both halves of the same phrase — CARD GAME. Once you see that, the whole puzzle clicks into place.
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One-letter transitions reveal the path. Each step in the ladder changes exactly one letter. Mapping out which words can be adjacent (HARD↔HARE, HATE↔DATE, etc.) quickly narrows down the valid order.
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Clues can be surprisingly literal. "Today's is either March 23 or March 24" is a clever, time-anchored clue for DATE. It reminds you to think creatively — the answer doesn't have to be tricky, just the right word.
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The clue note matters. "Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom" signals that GAME (not CARD) might be at the top. In this case, CARD is at the top — but the hint primes you to consider both orderings.
FAQ
Q1: What is the answer to LinkedIn Crossclimb 692? The answer is "A two-word phrase for an activity like poker or bridge" — CARD and GAME bookend the ladder: CARD → HARD → HARE → HATE → DATE → DAME → GAME.
Q2: Why is "hare" in this puzzle? The hare is the overconfident animal from Aesop's fable "The Tortoise and the Hare." It thought it could easily beat the slow tortoise — and famously lost by taking a nap during the race. It fits perfectly in the word ladder between HARD and HATE.
Q3: What does "Notre Dame" mean? Notre-Dame (French for "Our Lady") is the name of a famous Gothic cathedral in Paris, located on the Île de la Cité. It was severely damaged by fire in 2019 and has since been undergoing restoration.
Q4: What's a card game? A card game is any game played with a standard deck (or specialized deck) of playing cards. Examples include poker, bridge, blackjack, solitaire, go fish, and rummy. The phrase CARD GAME also colloquially refers to casino-style table games.
Q5: How does a word ladder work? A word ladder is a puzzle where you change one letter at a time to go from the starting word to the ending word. Each step must be a real word. Crossclimb adds clues to the middle words, making it a hybrid of word ladder and trivia.
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