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My wife Kara became ill after eating some ham over the holidays. So, to prove that I’ll turn just about anything into a puzzle… here goes!
By changing one letter at a time to form new words (and leaving the other three letters in their original positions), how many steps will it take you to convert the word FOOD into the word SICK? I was able to do it in five steps:
F O O D
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
S I C K
Here’s one SOLUTION.
Comments (19)
Comment
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food
fond
find
fink
sink
sick
posted by lisa on 12-29-2008 at 9:10 am
FOOD
HOOD
HOOK
HOCK
HICK
SICK
posted by Danita on 12-29-2008 at 9:52 am
food
ford
fork
pork
pick
sick
posted by dee on 12-29-2008 at 11:13 am
Close, Dee, but you’d need a word between “pork” and “pick” since two letters change.
The word “pock” would work there.
posted by Sandy on 12-29-2008 at 11:50 am
Food
Sick
I was able to get there in one move (pictured above)by skipping a few steps and ignoring the rules completely. I know, I know……Genius.
posted by Thad on 12-29-2008 at 11:57 am
food
fold
mold
mild
milk
silk
sick
That took more than five steps though…
posted by paige on 12-29-2008 at 12:20 pm
Nice shortcut, Thad. I hope with those kind of short cuts that you’re not employed as an air traffic controller! :)
posted by Sandy on 12-29-2008 at 12:24 pm
I went in the same direction as Dee. So much more relevant to include “pork” even if it did require an extra step.
posted by Betsy on 12-29-2008 at 12:30 pm
FOOD
FOLD
SOLD
SILD
SILK
SICK
It’s kind of funny because I looked up sild to see if it was a word… lo and behold, it’s an immature herring. Voila!
posted by JASON on 12-29-2008 at 12:48 pm
food, mood, mook, mock, sock, sick.
posted by D Hue on 12-29-2008 at 1:02 pm
Good point, Betsy!
FWIW, she’s feeling better today. But I doubt she’ll have a hankering for ham for a few weeks… or months.
posted by Sandy on 12-29-2008 at 1:16 pm
food
fold
sold
sild
silk
sick
posted by Jason on 12-29-2008 at 1:51 pm
FOOD
FOOL
TOOL
TOOK
TOCK
TICK
SICK
posted by darkmoofya on 12-29-2008 at 2:04 pm
FOOD
FOLD
MOLD
MILD
MILK
SILK
SICK
posted by Don on 12-29-2008 at 2:33 pm
FOOD
FOOT
SOOT
SOOK
SOCK
SICK
posted by Jeff on 12-29-2008 at 4:55 pm
FOOD
FOND
FIND
SIND
SINK
SICK
Sind is a province in southeastern Pakistan, but I’m not sure if it counts. In my mind? totally.
posted by Kristen on 12-29-2008 at 8:00 pm
1. Food
2. Dook
3. Dock
4. Dick
5. Sick
Yes, Dook is a word- look it up, or walk into your local pet store.
posted by Mary on 1-8-2009 at 7:10 pm
Food
Foot
Soot
Sook
Sock
Sick
W00t!
Sook is a word, look it up
posted by Jessica on 2-8-2009 at 2:18 pm
Mary, Food to Dook is not legit!
:D
posted by Jessica on 2-8-2009 at 2:20 pm