A game.

The pros here have probably already seen this, done this, and I apologize if this is a rerun:

What nine letter word in the English language is still a word when each of the nine letters is removed one by one? All nine words that are left each time a letter is removed are common English words.

If you give up... I have a video clip to show the answer.

can you remove them from anywhere in the word? Or only one or both ends?

from anywhere, at least the word I've seen.

I'm sure there must be several.

Works for the word Pilasters.

Pilasters
Pilaster
Plaster
Plater
Later
Late
Ate
At
A

(hey, cool! that was my 50th post and I'm now a journeyperson. At this rate I'll be an addict in a couple of weeks!)

Awww! they grow up so fast.

So is that the word you had in mind, or another one?

in the past, wordsmith proposed verbal decapitation (see Beheading words below the fold), which is much harder in that you must cut the first letter only; but the following were suggested:

prelate
relate
elate
late
ate
te
'e

splashes, plashes, lashes, ashes, shes, hes, Es

shes, hes and Es are pretty dodgy words! So is elate - it really only occurs as the past/perfect participle, elated, in normal usage - there isn't really a verb 'to elate'.

you're totally off base regarding elate!

also,
shes (similarly, hes)
and Es is the chemical element einsteinium, among other things.

Yeah I guess, but who ever uses the verb elate in real life?



...which wouldn't be allowable in Scrabble since it's a proper noun, but this isn't Scrabble so I guess it doesn't matter...

Still think they're dodgy words.

Esn't it an abreviation for einsteinium?

I haven't watched the video, but I'm assuming it's the one my sister sent me, and it is a bit startling, at first.

and as for Scrabble dictionaries, just don't play Scrabulous, on FaceBook. man, what an irritating, limited dictionary!

dodgy words <> not used in real life <> allowable in Scrabble




-joe (don't *challenge elate) friday

...and shes and hes as in "This sentence about hes and shes contains two hes and two shes (and two twos)"? Or do those words have other meanings than the plural of he and she? (being too lazy to look them up)

and btw did you mean all eight words that are left, plus the original word? (pedants of the world unite)

Yes, etaoin, it was indeed startling.

Yes, Pook. It is actually eight. I see now I did not phrase my original post precisely enough. I apologize for that.

So was my answer the word you were thinking of, or are we still looking for another one?

if you haven't guessed by now (I guess not), the word is probly
startling
starling
staring
string
sting
sing
sin
in
I

of something like that.

Another one would be

splatters
platters
patters
patter
pater
pate
ate
at
a

(which can be done more than one way)

Not to mention:

islanders
slanders
slander
lander
lader
lade
lad
la
a

...or then again

slatterns
slatters
slatter
latter
later
late
ate
at
a

and...

splitters
spitters
spiters
siters
sites
site
sit
it
I

...and if you'll allow the word 'planeteer'
1. Someone who helps protect the environment.
2. Someone with a magic ring from w:Captain Planet
(from Wiktionary)

and 'planeter', which should be a word but probably isn't...

...then this ten letter word works:

planeteers
planeters
planeter
planter
plater
later
late
ate
at
a

Or:

This sentence about hes and shes contains two hes and two shes (and two twos(no, wait, four twos(oops, five twos(no, no, six ... no seven twos(there, that's all the twos (oops again, eight, no, nine twos)))))

restates
estates
states
state
stat
sat
at
a

seems to be a bunch of them!

Oh, I don't know. I started at the end of the tail. It took five tries to find a word that would work.

Y'all people sure have a lot more patience than I do!!

eta--that was a low-down, sneaky trick! kudos. :-)

yeahbut® Pookie split off five just like that, so...

I haven't even got the nine REQUESTED characters. So an official disqualification wouldn't surprise me. Sic transit.

(not going to make a living out of this)

um...yeah, was wondering when someone would pick up my deliberate mistake, ahem...

"yeahbut®" is a registered trademark??

"yeahbut®" is a registered trademark??

it's a local conceit. actually®, there was an earlier one.

-joe (just another of our foibles) friday

heh™

I know it's not mine, I was just showing that I knew it belonged to somebody. is it yours, t?

"yeahbut®" is a registered trademark?? Yep; by my beloved Maverick, who joins us no more. [sigh]