Cognition

A Word Puzzle That Will Get You Thinking Quick

... and may even create new brain cells.

Posted December 8, 2014

In a previous blog, I discussed Lewis Carroll’s marvelous Doublet puzzle. The challenge was to transform one word into another by changing only one letter at a time, forming a genuine new word (not a proper name) with each letter change. For example, you can turn the word GROW into FLOP in just two steps"

GROW
______
______

FLOP

The first step is to change the R in GROW to L to get GLOW. The second step is to change the G in GLOW to F, for FLOW. Finally, by changing the W in FLOW to P, we produce the end word, FLOP. The “word ladder,” as it is also called, is shown below:

GROW
GLOW
FLOW
FLOP

Now, let’s play a bit on an analogous puzzle idea, which one could call “Word Lego." You are again given the first and last items in a word ladder. But, like a Lego set, you have to add a letter (and only one) each time, without changing any existing letter, in order to create a genuine new word. Here’s an example:

TO
______
______

STOOP

The answer is shown below:

TO
TOP
STOP
STOOP

(We added P to TO to get TOP; S to TOP to get STOP; and finally O to STOP to get STOOP)

There is growing evidence that word puzzles such as these help keep the brain healthier. Groups like the Alzheimer’s Association are constantly producing up-to-date research that seems to support the idea that word puzzles may help stave off dementia. Puzzles are certainly no magic pill; other crucial lifestyle factors—reading, physical exercise, social interaction, and the like—all contribute to the maintenance of brain health. But it is becoming ever more clear that mentally stimulating activities reinforce brain cells and the connections between them; they may even create new cells.

Have fun with the following word Lego puzzles. As in the case of the doublet, only common words, not proper nouns (the names of people or places, etc.) are allowed.

BIN

_______

BRINGS

_______

CLOTHE

_______

SHIELD

_______

PRINTS

_______

BREAST

SHE

_______

SHARED

Rido/Shutterstock

Answers

1. BIN
BING
BRING
BRINGS

2. LO
LOT
CLOT
CLOTH
CLOTHE

3. HE
SHE
SHED
SHIED
SHIELD

4. IT
PIT
PINT
PRINT
PRINTS

5. BE
BET
BEAT
BEAST
BREAST

6. SHE
SHED
SHRED
SHARED