Write a four or five letters long valid English word.
From any n^th word in the series the next i.e. the (n+1)^th word of 4 or 5 letters will be created by reversing the n^th word, erasing few letters to leave only 2 letters out of the original word, then inserting new letters (not the erased) to build a new valid 4 or 5 letters word.

Keeping score of the erased letters is essential - one is allowed to erase any out of the 26 letters in the ABC at most three times.
Add 1 point for each added letter.


Example:
WORD-DReam-MAsk-SAlt- TAxi - neXT -enVY - YEars - quAY--... etc
Tracing the spent(erased) letters:
bcfghjpqu yz…………3 letters left of each, 2 or 1 of others ("e" & "s")
Abcdfghijklmnopqtuvwxyz ….."e" & "s" missing - only 1 left of each
Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz…..all unused
3+2+2+2+2…..= 18 POINTS. Stopped for no reason.
End of Example

More rules:
The string begins with a word "WORD" and terminates due to the lack of a valid word to be created with the still available letters.
No proper names.
Plurals allowed.
When in doubt - don't.
Submit your sequences.
The highest scorer "wins".

If you use it as a friendly parlor game, set a time limit.
Good luck.

Assuming "WORD" can be any word such as "RELY", the following chain is 78 points:

RELY - xERox - tREk - evER - pRExy - zERo - fREsh - vERb -
REalm - EdgeR - quiRE - fERn - RazE - wARm - RAbbi - quARt -
fRAnk - hARd - cRAm - pARt - RAng - pARry -RajA - cARve -
dRAw - cigAR - RAzor - quARk - RAsh - HAjj - lAsH - rALly - LAws

(Note: keeping mostly to two letters, "reversing direction" of the pair, permitted an easier search for a solution.)

 

 

Posted by Dej Mar on 2010-05-30 18:01:33