In a word meld, you are given one word to try to change into another, one step at a time. Each step consists of changing one letter of the word into another while still having a true English word. For example, one step would be to change the word "PIE" to "PIT." Another step could change "PIT" to "POT," and so on.

What is the fewest number of steps in which you can change "LONE" to "WOLF"?

L O N E
. . . .
. . . .
W O L F

(I did it in 6 steps)

The former version of this post was an exact duplicate of the prior post, thus I am using it to offer two 4 step solutions. The following do beg the question: Would a word's obsolesence make it an "untrue" English word?

LONE, DONE, DOLE, DOLF, WOLF

Though obsolete, DOLF, an imperfect form of delve, is an English word. 

LONE, GONE, GOLE, GOLF, WOLF

Though GOLE is not found in a common standard English dictionary, it is found is some English dictionaries. The word GOLE is an obsolete spelling of GOAL, and an obsolete form of JOWL. It is also defined as the throat; a narrow valley, or hollow between hills; a ditch, or a small stream; or a flood-gate or sluice.

Edited on April 30, 2011, 7:50 am

Posted by Dej Mar on 2007-03-05 16:43:03