Answers for Daily #17

First moves

20 words are one letter away from BATS.

CATS

noun plural of cat

EATS

verb third-person singular simple present indicative of eat

FATS

noun plural of fat

HATS

noun plural of hat

MATS

noun plural of mat

OATS

noun plural of oat

Also: PATS, RATS, TATS, VATS, BETS, BITS, BOTS, BAAS, BAGS, BANS, BARS, BASS, BAYS, BATH

Quickest dead end

BATS → OATS → OAFS → OFFS

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

The golden word

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