Word transformation 3

[ESquared]

Transform one word into another by changing one letter in each step. Each word in your list must be in the dictionary. If challenged, please provide a link to a free online dictionary.

Can you change HOAX to CLOD in 5 steps or less?

 

[CajunCenturion]

I tend to agree, but was just asking.

Good Luck
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[ESquared]

CajunCenturion,

Well, I have been thinking about variations on the rules, to make it more interesting and challenging, and anagrams is definitely one of them. The words would either have to be very carefully chosen, or there could be some rule about what happens at each step.

For example, it could be...
Anagram, change one letter, add one letter, repeated. I was thinking about how to make a transformation puzzle that looked really easy but wasn't because of the order of operations required.

I'm still working on the short-to-long transformation.

 

[lbass]

Here's another solution:

[white]
hoax
coax
coan
clan
clad
clod
[/white]

-LB

 

[ESquared]

What does coan mean? I only find a reference to it as a merriam-webster unabridged entry (for which I don't care to submit my credit card number in order to receive the privilege of viewing).

 

[CajunCenturion]

I found it as one of several acronyms, and as a surname, in other words, a proper noun.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[ESquared]

I found the same, CajunCenturion. So, by the listed rules it would not be allowed. A word-substantiating listing in an online dictionary must be viewable without a subscription.

I know what a koan is, though.

 

[Stella740pl]

Coan appears to be an antique silk fabric.

http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/...Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Coa_Vestis.html

 

[ESquared]

Coan, two syllables, upper case, proper name, as in, of the people or something called Coa. Not valid according to the general wordplay rules in this forum!

 

[CajunCenturion]

Nice find stella740pl

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[ESquared]

Hmmm... I didn't explicitly exclude proper names, did I? What do you all think? Should they be allowed for standard wordplay?

 

[CajunCenturion]

Generally speaking, proper nouns are not allowed in word games.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[lbass]

Please accept my apologies. I was thinking of koan, as in Zen koan, and wasn't sure of the spelling. When it appeared as an entry in Merriam-Webster on-line, I thought it was at least a variant of koan. But I don't have a subscription so didn't check further, and just assumed that this was so. If it happens to actually be a lower case word, then I only used it by accident. When I checked my hard copy Shorter OED at home, it wasn't in there, so I can't really argue for it.

I would vote against accepting proper nouns, too (if it were not already a rule!). Sorry for involving you all in all this speculation...or at least I hope it was fun for some of you...

-LB

 

[ESquared]

Many of us will accept any pretext for wasting time looking into the meaning and origin of words...