All about flooble | fun stuff | Get a free chatterbox | Free JavaScript | Avatars    
perplexus dot info

Home > General > Word Problems
Morphing words (Posted on 2005-12-09) Difficulty: 3 of 5
This is a variation on the classic problem of changing one word into another, one letter at a time. In this variation you may add and remove letters as well as change letters. You may also make more than one change per step. The catch is that it costs you 2^n points for each step, where n is the number of changes (except for n=1 which costs only 1 point).

For example: HINTS may be changed into SOLVE by
hints
shines (4 pts) add s;t->e
shine (1 pt) rem s
solve (8 pts) hin->olv
for a total of 13 pts

or
hints
hint (1)
hunt (1)
hone (4)
hole (1)
sole (1)
solve (1)
for a total of 9 points

The challenge in this case is to morph PROBLEM into SOLUTION in as few points as possible. I've managed to get it down to 21. Good luck and enjoy!

Just for fun you could try changing LEAD into GOLD (easy) or WATER into WINE (a little harder).

See The Solution Submitted by Bob Smith    
Rating: 3.0000 (2 votes)

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
SolutionWATER into WINE in 4 pointsDej Mar2007-10-03 23:35:34
re: WATER into WINE in 5 pointsMindRod2005-12-11 00:26:51
WATER into WINE in 5 pointsAlexis2005-12-10 19:11:36
re: Solution in 16 with proper nounRichard2005-12-09 14:49:39
SolutionSolution in 18MindRod2005-12-09 10:48:15
SolutionSolution in 16 with proper nounMindRod2005-12-09 10:41:39
Please log in:
Login:
Password:
Remember me:
Sign up! | Forgot password


Search:
Search body:
Forums (0)
Newest Problems
Random Problem
FAQ | About This Site
Site Statistics
New Comments (14)
Unsolved Problems
Top Rated Problems
This month's top
Most Commented On

Chatterbox:
Copyright © 2002 - 2024 by Animus Pactum Consulting. All rights reserved. Privacy Information