In a deck of standard playing cards, eleven cards separate the ace and the two of any suit. But by changing one letter at a time (and leaving the others in their original spots), I was able to go from ACE to TWO in only six steps. Can you do better?

T W O
_ _ _
_ _ _
_ _ _
_ _ _
_ _ _
A C E

HERE is one solution.

ONE POSSIBLE ANSWER:

TWO
TOO
TOE
DOE
DYE
AYE
ACE

Feel free to comment with your own solution(s).