[LL] “I figured out the first word ladder; wasn’t too hard”, Leroy the Lion claimed.

  FOLD
  TOLD
  TOLL
  TALL
  CALL

[RR] “Good. You can also use BOLD, BOLL, and BALL or MOLD, MOLL, and MALL. Depending on what dictionary you use, you can even do one better with COLD and COLL, an obscure word meaning embrace.

What about the other two?” Roderick the Rock inquired.

[LL] “Just too long. I didn’t even know what direction I was heading halfway through.”

[RR] “Oh well. Here’s one answer for each:”

  TWO
  TOO
  TOP
  TIP
  DIP
  DIM
  AIM
  ARM
  ARE
  ACE

and

  PAIRS
  HAIRS
  HEIRS
  HEARS
  HEATS
  SEATS
  SPATS
  SPITS
  SUITS
  QUITS
  QUIDS
  QUADS

Or using uncommon words:

  TWO
  TWA1
  AWA2
  AWE
  ACE

and

  PAIRS
  MAIRS3
  MAIDS
  QAIDS
  QUIDS
  QUADS

The final puzzle was a word search. But unlike most of these types of puzzles, this one had no word list, just the instructions, ‘Find as many poker words as you can in this grid of letters in ten minutes.’

E  E  R  H  T  B  E  D  M  A  N  I  A  C  U  C  Y  Z  R  P  O  H  C  S

B  N  S  U  I  T  N  H  B  V  D  R  A  O  B  H  V  P  I  P  E  B  N  S

J  V  S  P  A  F  R  H  S  J  W  A  L  K  U  E  P  O  A  I  C  U  O  E

K  F  E  L  F  F  U  H  S  U  F  F  O  T  U  C  D  L  P  H  N  Y  T  V

Q  C  O  Z  K  T  R  W  S  P  L  H  G  I  H  K  Y  F  R  C  A  I  T  E

G  S  U  C  T  I  G  H  T  A  B  F  E  V  I  F  L  A  E  R  L  N  U  N

I  U  A  L  V  N  E  M  W  I  C  T  R  A  E  H  I  S  V  A  A  H  B  K

E  T  T  E  I  Z  Q  W  J  N  D  G  N  P  V  N  H  V  O  I  B  T  U  T

S  Q  R  S  E  M  N  O  I  T  I  S  O  P  B  A  Y  F  E  S  O  O  L  D

U  C  U  E  H  N  I  O  K  D  P  T  E  O  R  G  S  R  R  E  Z  I  R  P

O  P  U  I  R  O  W  T  L  A  Y  C  W  K  M  A  J  B  E  J  T  K  S  B

H  Q  T  U  T  T  T  E  D  P  U  E  M  N  E  E  U  Q  L  O  E  C  E  E

S  P  T  E  D  Y  A  E  J  E  M  L  K  N  B  B  L  B  O  K  V  A  K  T

L  R  S  S  L  K  C  P  D  T  S  I  W  N  B  L  U  I  O  E  I  J  A  E

I  U  P  P  O  L  S  R  B  H  S  O  L  L  O  S  U  E  C  R  T  I  R  I

X  N  L  I  F  Y  E  L  O  L  D  W  E  R  T  D  D  F  C  E  C  H  O  G

P  N  A  R  P  K  E  V  O  W  J  B  E  G  S  A  R  L  F  K  A  E  W  H

R  E  S  T  O  C  E  W  O  W  O  E  F  E  F  T  W  H  E  E  L  Y  J  T

E  R  H  P  A  I  P  H  L  R  R  K  R  L  S  T  R  A  I  G  H  T  B  C

B  L  I  N  D  L  S  X  P  F  O  O  I  A  O  M  T  A  E  S  Y  B  I  I

U  O  M  N  A  B  A  N  K  R  O  L  L  C  I  A  Q  G  D  M  O  N  E  Y

Y  N  U  Y  E  I  O  K  N  A  L  B  L  L  K  L  T  Q  M  D  A  N  T  E

R  I  N  G  A  T  E  Y  Y  E  R  T  A  B  L  E  S  B  T  I  L  P  S  D

P  A  S  S  I  V  E  N  U  T  K  N  A  V  E  H  R  H  E  R  O  E  E  C

And this scoring chart:

• 30 words or fewer: Donkey
• 31 to 55 words: Regular
• 56 to 80 words: Shark
• 81+ words: Pro”

{Complete list of words can be found in this footnote⁴.}

Footnotes:

1. Twa is Scottish for two.
2. Awa is Scottish for away.
3. Mairs is Scottish for more. Just a coincidence that all three of these obscure words are Scottish!
4. The 122 poker words that were intentionally hidden in the grid were: ace active ante balance bankroll beat bet blank blind bluff board boat bubble burn bust button buyin call cash check chip chop club cooler cutoff deuce donkey draw edge eight equity fade five flip float flop flush fold four freeroll gutshot hand heart hero high hijack hole house isolate jack jam joker kicker king knave lead leak limit limp loose luck maniac money muck nine nit nut open overpair paint pair passive poker position post pot prize probe quad queen rag rail rainbow raise rake read rebuy ring river runner seat set seven shark shove showdown shuffle slowplay slowroll spade splash split squeeze stack steal straddle straight suit table tell ten three tight tilt trey trips turn two value walk weak wheel.