Answers for Daily #12

The starting word was

First moves

6 words are one letter away from YUCK.

BUCK: noun A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the hamster, ferret, salmonid, shad, skunk and kangaroo.
DUCK: verb To quickly lower (the head or body), often in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
LUCK: noun Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence.
MUCK: noun Slimy mud, sludge.
PUCK: noun A mischievous or hostile spirit. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
TUCK: verb To pull or gather up (an item of fabric). .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}

YUCK → MUCK → MOCK → MONK → MONO

Once the words before it are used, nobody can change MONO: a dead end, worth 3 extra points.

Every Daily hides one golden word a few moves from the start. This one was SUNK.

From YUCK, 2,140 words can be reached one letter at a time.

Definitions from Wiktionary