HOW TO GET FROM OUNCE TO POUND

Lewis Carroll's game of "Word Golf" or "Doublets" requires you to build a chain of words between two given words, changing only a single letter at a time. I had heard that going from OUNCE to POUND was impossible, but I persisted. The solution I found relies heavily on two Scottish dialect words, "DUNCH" (a nudge with the elbow), and "CAULD" (a spelling of "cold"). The other words in the chain are more legitimate.

      ounce
      dunce
      dunch
      bunch
      bunco
      bunko
      bunks
      bulks
      balks
      calks
      calls
      cauls
      cauld
      could
      would
      wound
      pound
    

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Last revised on 29 October 1998.