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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:The Joy of Lex
Notice:A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:THEBAY::SYSTEM
Created:Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1192
Total number of notes:42769

912.0. "A new(?) game" by POCUS::SEARL () Tue Sep 03 1991 17:51

    This is a game I think I invented during a boring meeting several years
    ago:
    
    		pig      sand
    		Big      Band
    		BAg      BEnd
    		BAN      BEAd
    		BAt      BEAM
    		Bet      BEAt
    		met      BElt
    	     etc.        Bolt
                         molt
    		      etc.	
    
    The only rule is to try to avoid using the same letter twice in
    the changes.
    
    For a starter word of three letters, it's a no-brainer; at four
    letters, it's a little more challenging; but I've only done it with
    a five letter starter with only one group of words; and never with six.
    
    If there is any interest, I suggest documenting only the five-or-more
    letter words.
    
    Clint	
    		
    
    
T.RTitleUserPersonal
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912.1EFGV04::LEEWed Sep 04 1991 13:3610
   I saw a version of this game as a child. Some magazine (I forget now
   which) used to run a weekly puzzle like this, with:

   "Change: 'xxx' to 'yyy' in 5 or less steps".

   The added angle of interest was that xxx and yyy were often 'related'
   words with the same number of letters. eg. 'hand' to 'foot', 'grape' to
   'apple', etc.

   I was never any good at it !
912.2IEDUX::jonI'm in an Ealing comedyWed Sep 04 1991 16:2612
An English humour magazine called The Truth used to have competitions
based on a variation of this.  The idea was to use only acronyms rather
than normal words.  They had things like 'convert CIA to KGB in the
fewest number of steps'.

I won �10 or so in this.  As this is the only time I've ever won
anything in a magazine competition, I am unreasonably proud of this
achievement.

Jon


912.3JIT081::DIAMONDOrder temporarily out of personal nameThu Sep 05 1991 04:228
    >'convert CIA to KGB in the fewest number of steps'.
    
    Well, if we're converting acronyms instead of words, I'd say the
    solution is always pretty straightforward.
    
    Of course, in this particular case, the step is to arrest the CIA's
    leaders :-)  but of course that makes it inappropriate for this
    conference.