Wordcraft Home Page    Wordcraft Community Home Page    Forums  Hop To Forum Categories  Wordplay    Letter Game
Page 1 2 3 4 
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Letter Game Login/Join
 
Member
Picture of shufitz
posted Hide Post
Mad I did this one -- only to come on the board and find that Hab had done it more quickly. Mad Wink So with further effort:

sword
swore
shore
shote
shots
shops
whops
woops
woods
words
 
Posts: 2666 | Location: Chicago, IL USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
This man is serious; he has a _worksheet_!


It's not so much having a worksheet as having a dialup connection and not wanting to tie up the telephone by composing online if it can be done beforehand... Someday I'll get a DSL line and not have to worry. Maybe.
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
quote:
It's not so much having a worksheet as having a dialup connection
Yeah, yeah, and the pope is Jewish! I live with someone who has words, etymologies, figures, etc., written on numerous worksheets, napkins, envelopes, whatever. How often have I heard, "Hon, do you know where that napkin is where I jotted down those words?"

He is cute, though! Big Grin
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
And now, m'Lords, to the business of the day...(That's Iolanthe, Act I)

all four-letter words:
word --> line -- four steps
line --> poem -- six steps (but it looks as though it should be do-able in fewer, even without invoking the French "pont")
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
wore
wire
lire
line
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Optime ! Four changes accomplished in four steps.

Now to assemble the lines into a poem!
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Hic et ubique
posted Hide Post
line
lint Wink
list
lost
post
poem

"Lint" makes me wonder if we could go from "clean" to "dirty," preferably all in 5-letter words. It seems difficult. Perhaps hab can propound a more feasible one?

Edit: oops! Frown Thanks for the catch, Jerry! Smile

[This message was edited by Hic et ubique on Thu Aug 14th, 2003 at 16:02.]
 
Posts: 1204Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of jerry thomas
posted Hide Post
post
poet
poem


(without a poet, there is no poem) Roll Eyes
 
Posts: 6708 | Location: Kehena Beach, Hawaii, U.S.A.Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
While we think about making dirty into clean with five-letter words, how about turning your
lint into wool with fours?
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
DINT
DONT
WONT
WOOT
WOOL

'Tis the best I could do. Woot, according to Onelook, is a slang interjection to express happiness. Is there a way in only 4 steps?
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Kalleh:
DINT
DONT
WONT
WOOT
_WOOL_
.... Is there a way in only 4 steps?


'Fraid not. As soon as you introduce a letter in your ladder that isn't in the goal word, you have to have another step to get it out. Since there's no word LINT --> wint or lont or liot or linl, the project is doomed. At least with common words.

Not to worry. Five steps is nothing to be ashamed of!

Lessee now. Can we RING the BELL? Seven steps or fewer.
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of jerry thomas
posted Hide Post
RING
Bing
Binge
Bilge
Bile
Bill
BELL


Who can go from BAD to WORSE in five or fewer steps? Razz

[This message was edited by jerry thomas on Fri Aug 15th, 2003 at 18:05.]
 
Posts: 6708 | Location: Kehena Beach, Hawaii, U.S.A.Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
Ah, Haberdasher, that's exactly what I thought! However, you seemed so sure... It all goes to show, trust your own instincts!

ring
bing
bine
bile
bill
bell
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Nice sequence, Jerry!

bad
bade
bare
ware
worse
worse

this to that in three steps ?


less to more ? I don't have an efficient one for that but I didn't work on it very much.
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of jerry thomas
posted Hide Post
BAD
Wad
War
Ware
Wore
WORSE
Gorse
Goose
Goosy
Goody
GOOD
God
Got
Get
Let
Lett
Lette
Letter
BETTER
Letter
Lette
Lett
Lest
BEST
 
Posts: 6708 | Location: Kehena Beach, Hawaii, U.S.A.Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of jerry thomas
posted Hide Post
LESS
Mess
Moss
Mops
Mope
MORE

MANY
Mane
Mare
Fare
Fere
Fer
FEW
 
Posts: 6708 | Location: Kehena Beach, Hawaii, U.S.A.Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
Question...I thought we were keeping the same number of letters in the words. For example, we would use 2 four-lettered words and in between only use four-lettered words. Perhaps I misunderstood....

How about lord to king, using only 4-lettered words all the way through?
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of jerry thomas
posted Hide Post
LORD
lorn
born
bore
borg
bong
bing
KING

NEXT======== TIME
 
Posts: 6708 | Location: Kehena Beach, Hawaii, U.S.A.Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
next
text
tent
tint
tine
time



heavy --> light (I think it will take a lot of steps!)
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
I've been trying sooooo long. I've found a lot of good words along the way, like leany, ligny, leary, lerve, ligne, lieve, liane, but I just can't do it! Mad
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Darn right it will take a lot of steps, hab. This does it in 21 steps, but have no clue whether this is optimal.

heavy
heady
ready
reads
reeds
reels
peels
peens
teens
terns
tarns
barns
burns
burnt
burst
buret
beret
beget
begot
bigot
bight
light
 
Posts: 1184Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
heavy
heady
heads
heals
teals
tells
bells
balls
bales
sales
sates
sites
siths
sighs
sight
light

{I'm sure this can be improved further. "Sith" is the weak rung on the ladder and I'd be happier with a less marginal word. Even if it puts a few steps back in...)

I really liked your "burst - buret - beret - beget" sequence !
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
Wow! I am duly impressed! Do you guys think it has to be started with "heady" (I did try that as well.)? I was mostly trying with "l" words, such as: heavy, leavy, leany, etc. I did have my "worksheets" this time, and I was trying to get to "ligny" or "leggy", but frankly now I can't even remember why!

'Twas frustrating, to be sure, but I learned some great new words in the process! Smile
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
...and I thought you were a beer afficionado! Oh well, If you don't like "heady," there's also "heavy - heave" but I couldn't take that any further.

Addendum:
heavy
heave
leave
lease
least
...
OK, take it away!
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
Haberdasher, I will try another, but not this one again. I cannot tell you the time I spent....! Not again!
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
It's laborious, and I'm not happy with Paree (no matter how Gay it may be), and I'm sure it can be done more efficiently, but here it is finally:

dirty
dirts
darts
parts
pares
Paree
parse
purse
nurse
Norse
gorse
gorge
gouge
rouge
rough
tough
touch
torch
porch
perch
peach
leach
leash
least
beast
blast
blest
bleat
cleat
clean
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
You are a genius! Wink For all that work (and I know how long that takes, though Shufitz did show me a trick that I haven't used yet; he thinks you use it), I am up to your challenge. What are your next words?
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
No trick, just brute force. I'm curious to know what he has in mind.

Is brute ==> force doable?

I'm coming to the conclusion that four-letter words are more flexible. If b-->f is to formidable (haven't tried it yet) how about
golf-->club-->ball-->fore, the order being relatively unimportant ? [No, I don't play, myself.]
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
dirty
dirts
darts
parts
pares
parcs (replaces Paree/parse/purse/nurse/Norse/gorse/gorge/gouge/rouge/rough/touch/torch/porch)

parch
perch
peach
leach
leash
least
beast
blast
blest
bleat
cleat
clean
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Is brute ==> force doable?


Answer: Yes. So are the "golf" variations. golf-->ball-->fore-->club seems to be the shortest.
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of shufitz
posted Hide Post
Stealing the beginning and end of habs, but changing the middle (italicized). 15 steps. This is particularly useful if you find his Gaulism galling. Wink

dirty
dirts
darts
parts
pasts
pests
bests
beats
beaus
beaut

beast
blast
blest
bleat
cleat
clean
 
Posts: 2666 | Location: Chicago, IL USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
It's a beaut. I'm in no position to quibble about "beaus" (beaux"?).
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of shufitz
posted Hide Post
Down to 14:

dirty
dirts
darts
farts
fasts
fests
feats
frats
frets
frees
freer
fleer (one who flees an accident; see also next line)
flear (alternate form of this "fleer")
clear
clean
 
Posts: 2666 | Location: Chicago, IL USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
dolf
dalf
calf
call
ball
bale
bare
fare
fore
ford
food
flod
flob
blob
blub
club

I have trouble with the 5-lettered words; I've been working on brute force, but so far, no luck.
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
I found a four-step golf==>ball and a ten-step fore==>club sequence. It's longer but the words are all unassailable...

And I have a forced brute in twelve steps but with one questionable word in it (a proper noun). And an even shorter one if we'll accept some champagnes as "secs" and some as "bruts" :-) )

I'll post these toward the weekend if no one has gotten them sooner.

(Wha' happened? The "edit message" icon didn't appear when I tried to correct a typo earllier this morning!?)

[This message was edited by haberdasher on Wed Aug 27th, 2003 at 8:08.]
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted Hide Post
Haberdasher, I had the same editing problem in a post the other day. In fact, I was never able to edit it.

Now, which of my words (from "fore" to "club") would you call assailable? They all appeared in Dictionary.com (I believe). Changing vowel sequences seems to be a problem (i.e. "fore" to "club"). Let's see yours, at any rate! I love seeing the different thought processes. I did one once, only to see that Jerry had done the same one, and our methods were very similar.
 
Posts: 24735 | Location: Chicago, USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of shufitz
posted Hide Post
brute
brite
brits (not just a proper noun)
brats
boats
borts
forts
forte
force
 
Posts: 2666 | Location: Chicago, IL USAReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Well done!
If you go from brite to trite and then on, you can eliminate a couple of esoteric words. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not.

My versions are

brute
bruce - derogatory term referring to an effeminate male, or else a kind of exercise test protocol
truce
trice
trite
write
writs
waits
warts
worts
forts
force

and the shorter

brute
bruts
bouts
touts
torts
forts
forte
force

[This message was edited by haberdasher on Wed Aug 27th, 2003 at 20:26.]
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Hic et ubique
posted Hide Post
Hab, you can shorten that last one by stealing from shu (as he stole from you). Instead of your
bouts -> touts -> torts -> forts, substitute
bouts -> borts -> forts.
 
Posts: 1204Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Kalleh:

Now, _which_ of my words (from "fore" to "club") would you call assailable? They all appeared in Dictionary.com (I believe). Changing vowel sequences seems to be a problem (i.e. "fore" to "club"). Let's see yours, at any rate!


My shortest was

golf
gold
bold
bald
ball
bale
bare
fare
fore
ford
fond
fend
feed <--> fees <--> tees (gratuitous !)
fled
flee
glee
glue
clue
club

Not as short as some of your sequences, but all quite common words.

I tend to be of the school that says these things should be done from one's working vocabulary, so that using a reference book (let alone fishing in OneLook.com) is sort of cheating*. By that criterion flod, flob, and blub are all "assailable," even though they can be substantiated. Don't take it personally; it goes along with my being a prescriptivist. It's part of that (perhaps somewhat arrogant, though I prefer to think of it as "self-confident") "whom-are-you-going-to-believe-me-or-some-strange-dictionary" mentality, and I recognize it as such.

*(even when I do it myself)

[This message was edited by haberdasher on Fri Aug 29th, 2003 at 18:19.]
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
LAGER --->

BEERS
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
There's gotta be a better way, but here goes:

drink --> lager --> beers


(Edit: I took it out and put one possible ladder in the "Answer" thread in Q and A, so as not to spoil it if someone should still want to work on it. Unikely though that seems.)

[This message was edited by haberdasher on Sat Sep 6th, 2003 at 12:27.]
 
Posts: 6266 | Location: Worcester, MA, USReply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata Page 1 2 3 4  
 

Wordcraft Home Page    Wordcraft Community Home Page    Forums  Hop To Forum Categories  Wordplay    Letter Game

Copyright © 2002-12