mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
I was playing around with some Word Ladders recently, and noticed that it was possible to change “TWO” into “SIX” in four steps… which seems rather appropriate. Can you figure out a way to do it, changing only a single letter at a time?
See the answer here.
Pages: 1 2
Comments (21)
Comment
In The Magazine
Two
Tao
Tax
Sax
Six
posted by tad on 5-30-2008 at 6:50 am
The link doesn’t seem to link to the second page…
posted by Matt on 5-30-2008 at 7:33 am
Can we use Spanish words?
TWO
TIO
TIN
SIN
SIX
That was fun!
posted by jessi on 5-30-2008 at 7:44 am
I can’t get the answer to come up… can you check the link?
posted by Bill on 5-30-2008 at 7:46 am
Ditto on can’t see the answer; that being said I got TWO > WIT > SIT > SIX, I am missing a step - so I must not understand the rules
posted by Witty Nickname on 5-30-2008 at 8:09 am
two, tao, tax, tix, six
posted by sandie on 5-30-2008 at 8:09 am
Witty Nickname: You can’t rearrange the letters during the process so TWO to WIT is invalid.
I get TWO TOO TOT TIT SIT SIX, though there are almost certainly other options like TWO TOO TOT SOT SIT SIX
posted by Jacquilynne on 5-30-2008 at 8:14 am
I have TWO TOO BOO BOX SOX SIX. I can’t see the answers they’ve put here, either.
posted by Lauren on 5-30-2008 at 8:18 am
Too many steps, Jacquilynne. :) I did TWO > TOO > TOX > SOX > SIX. Granted two of the words aren’t exactly Scrabble-standard (tox as in “Tox screen” and sox as in Red or White), but it works…
posted by Zoidland on 5-30-2008 at 8:18 am
two, tao, tax, sax, six
posted by Neil on 5-30-2008 at 8:22 am
I get: TWO - tao - tax - tix/sax - SIX
posted by Last One Left on 5-30-2008 at 8:26 am
I got the same as Neil. I also thought about the one that Sandie came up with, but couldn’t decide if “tix” is a real word.
posted by Amber on 5-30-2008 at 8:32 am
TWO-TIO(Spanish)-TIP-SIP-SIX
posted by Boots on 5-30-2008 at 9:23 am
Hi folks — sorry the link was broken (my bad). My trusty PC wouldn’t boot up this AM, so I’m on a backup. So if the text here is gray instead of black, blame a 486-DX/2.
posted by Sandy on 5-30-2008 at 9:52 am
Two
TIMES
THREE
EQUALS
Six
:)
posted by Ian on 5-30-2008 at 10:35 am
TWO - TOO - TON - TIN - SIN - SIX
posted by mac on 5-30-2008 at 11:04 am
TWO
TOO
TOP
TIP
SIP
SIX
Simplistic (three letter words and all), but it works.
posted by Ken on 5-30-2008 at 11:50 am
TWO
WET
SET
SIT
SIX
posted by Jason on 5-30-2008 at 12:45 pm
Oops, you’re right — I read it as allowing four intermediate words, rather than four steps.
posted by Jacquilynne on 5-30-2008 at 1:53 pm
TWO
TOO
TOX
SOX
SIX
posted by Matrinka on 5-30-2008 at 4:48 pm
SAX is a word?
posted by Dibyo on 6-1-2008 at 11:42 pm