Sandy Wood
Brain Game: Spin the Tire
by Sandy Wood - April 23, 2010 - 7:30 AM

bloghead_braingames.jpg

By changing one letter at a time to form different English words, and leaving all other letters in their original positions, convert SPIN into TIRE in seven (or fewer) steps. Good luck!

S P I N
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
T I R E

Here is a seven-step SOLUTION.
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Comments (11)

  1. spin -> spit -> spot -> soot -> sort -> sore -> sire -> tire

    Basically works the same way as yours. If there was a good two-vowel word that “spin” could turn into, that might eliminate a step, but I don’t know of one.

    posted by Matthew E on 4-23-2010 at 8:50 am

  2. spit, spot, soot, toot, tort, tore, tire

    posted by Nathan on 4-23-2010 at 9:24 am

  3. spin, spit, spot, soot, sort, sore, tore, tire

    posted by Sarah on 4-23-2010 at 9:30 am

  4. Spin > Sain (to bless) > Sarn (stepping stone) > Barn > Bare > Tare (any of various vetches) > Tire

    I love dictionary.com

    posted by Lisa Z on 4-23-2010 at 10:25 am

  5. Spin, sain, sail, mail, mall, male, mile, mire, tire.

    It took a bit longer, but I got to use a set of homophones, so I’m putting this one in the V column.

    posted by Paul on 4-23-2010 at 10:59 am

  6. Yay, this is the first time I ever solved one of these! I came up with the same solution as Matthew E. I feel smart. :D

    I tend to be better at math and logic puzzles than word puzzles.

    posted by Jina on 4-23-2010 at 11:23 am

  7. Spin > Shin > Thin > Tain > Tare > Tare > Tire

    Ok, so some of these are “technically” words, but it isn’t like I had heard of them before, lol

    posted by Carol on 4-23-2010 at 12:16 pm

  8. Wow… I must be zoned out at my desk today… I sat here for 10 min, and couldn’t come up with the answers. Ooh well, I guess I will try again next time.

    posted by Michael on 4-23-2010 at 1:17 pm

  9. http://alumni.unc.edu/mboard/bulletin.asp?reunionType=Swim+Test

    I’m (sigh) a dropout, but UNC Chapel Hill still has a swim test that you must pass before graduating. Lucky me, I was in the Navy, so they waived it.

    posted by Pam on 4-23-2010 at 1:38 pm

  10. this sucks how do u play?
    i h8 school

    death2all

    posted by death2all on 4-25-2010 at 9:09 pm

  11. Most of these words are pretty obscure, but I did it in a mere 5 steps (I’m so damn proud):

    SAIN
    TAIN
    TARN
    TARE
    TIRE

    Also, the phrase “Spin the Tire” brings to mind the episode of Seinfeld in which Elaine watches the rotating tires through the window and goes “Ooooh!”

    posted by Araxie on 9-25-2010 at 7:21 pm

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