Word golf
Word golf is a game in which one word is turned into another through a process of substituting single letters. A new English word must be formed each time a letter is replaced, and 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)."
Examples
In the index to Pale Fire, Nabokov provides the following example for scoring lass-male in four:
- Lass
- Mass
- Mars
- Mare
- Male
To transform dog into pot, the following sequence of steps may be taken:
- Dog
- Dot
- Pot
In which case, the player's score would be two.