Answers for Daily #6

The starting word was

First moves

15 words are one letter away from SIRE.

DIRE: adjective Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous.
FIRE: noun A (usually self-sustaining) chemical reaction involving the bonding of oxygen with carbon or other fuel, with the production of heat and the presence of flame or smouldering.
HIRE: noun A person who has been hired, especially in a cohort.
LIRE: noun Flesh, brawn, or muscle; the fleshy part of a person or animal in contradistinction to the bone and skin.
MIRE: noun Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.
TIRE: verb To become sleepy or weary.

Also: WIRE, SERE, SORE, SURE, SIDE, SINE, SITE, SIZE, SIRS

SIRE → LIRE → LIRA

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

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

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

Definitions from Wiktionary