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

N E W S
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
C A S T

Here is a five-step SOLUTION.

A FIVE-STEP SOLUTION:

NEWS > PEWS > PAWS > PASS > PAST > CAST
Did you come up with a different series of words? Feel free to post your solution in the comments. Thanks!