Pick some 3-, 4-, 5-, or 6-letter word and cycle through the letters in each position of the original word to make the most words (found in a reasonable dictionary) to try to find the basic word that permits the most such changes. Avoid proper nouns.
Example: RATE
Bate
Date
Fate
Gate
Hate
Late
Mate
Pate
Sate
rEte
rIte
rOte
raCe
raGe
raKe
raLe
raPe
raRe
raSe
raVe
ratS
21 variants
Beat that.
Hmmm…
BARE
Bare, Care, Dare, Fare, Hare, Mare, Pare, Rare, Ware
bAre, bOre
baDe, baKe, baLe, baNe, baSe, baTe
barB, barD, barF, barK, barM, barN, barS
I count 24. Have you read Dmitri Borgmann’s Language On Vacation?
Challenge accepted:
RATES
Bates
Dates
Fates
Gates
Hates
Lates
Mates
Pates
Sates
rEtes
rItes
rOtes
raCes
raGes
raKes
raLes
raPes
raRes
raSes
raVes
Bated
Dated
Fated
Gated
Hated
Mated
Sated
raCed
raGed
raKed
raLed
raPed
raSed
raVed
34 variants.
