Word golf

Word golf is a game in which one word is turned into another through a process of substituting single letters. Each time a letter is replaced, a new English word must be formed. Players score points according to the number of steps taken. As in regular golf, the player with the lowest score at the end of the game wins.

The game was popularized by Vladimir Nabokov, and is referred to in his hypertext masterpiece Pale Fire (1962) as a favorite pass-time of the fictitious American poet John Shade. Shade's neighbour Charles Kinbote notes that some of his own records include "hate-love in three, lass-male in four, and live-dead in five (with 'lend' in the middle)."

Example

To transform dog into pot, the following sequence of steps may be taken:

• dog
• dot
• pot

In which case, one's score would be a three.

See Also

• Pale Fire
• Vladimir Nabokov
• Hypertext
• Postmodernism
• Word game
• Golf