Tasty -> Bland
tasty
taste
caste
casts
lasts
lusts
busts
bests
beats
beans
brans
brand
bland
White -> Black?
Check -> Mated?
Haven’t tested either of those …
White -> Black:
white
while
whale
shale
shall
stall
stalk
stack
slack
black
Just so’s you know, I checked three dictionaries before I said anything. I don’t use Dictionary.com online, I use Merriam Webster. I have an abridged Webster’s at my desk, and then I checked an abridged Oxford that I have. As promised I checked again when I got home, and it does appear in my Webster’s Unabridged.
[sub]So sue me, I like dictionaries[/sub]
FWIW, I didn’t care whether or not the word was used in the solution, I just was interested in whether that was a real variation on that word or not. It’s certainly not a common one, as it only appears in one unabridged dictionary.
grins Sadly dictionary.com, and a very aging Funk & Wagnalls from 1976 or so? is all I have, and I far more trust dictionary.com over the old F&W. 
I’m still working on check -> mated, this one seems tricky.
Check -> Mated
check
chick
click
slick
slink
stink
stint
saint
paint
pains
mains
mails
malls
males
mates
mated
Next, try Brain -> Chess (untested, but seems like it should be easy…)
LOL Wow, I suck, I thought the only word “check” was similar to was “cheek” … my solution was:
check
cheek
cheer
sheer
shear
spear
speak
speck
spick (-and-span)
spice
space
spare
share
shore
chore
chord
chard
chars
chats
coats
coals
coils
boils
bails
balls
malls
males
mates
mated
Having been embarrassingly one-upped by Darwin’s Finch, I believe I shall move on to:
Brain -> Chess
brain
braid
brand
brans
brass
grass
gross
grows
crows
crews
chews
chess
Um, Paint -> Brush? (Untested, as normal grins)
Paint > Brush
paint
print
prink
brink
brisk
brusk
brush
Dictionary.com is also the only dictionary I have to use, and I know it’s moronmountain’s favourite dictionary as he posted twice that it rocks 
How about smile > frown ?
This one looked real hard at first…
Smile
smite
spite
spits
slits
slots
blots
blows
brows
brown
Frown
I need a life…
John --> life (untested)
John --> life
John
join
coin
corn
core
lore
lire
life
As a new one, how about converting a moron into a Doper? (Also untested, I have enough trouble figuring out everyone else’s)
Moron > Doper
moron
moros
mores
mopes
dopes
doper
Dodgy words used are in dictionary.com
Also need a life…
Thinking…
dodgy --> words …?
Anyone care to try?
I love this “pick on moronmountain” bull-plop. I’ve been a registered member longer than ALL of you. I just had a life for a little while so I didn’t go psyco-posting like our good friends here. But now I’ve fallen right into a HUGE slum on these boards. (Well, huge for me anyway)
So Dodgy -> Words? Warning: Might contain DODGY WORDS because this is ass hard…
Geezum…
dodgy
dodge
bodge
badge
barge
And here’s where I stall for an hour…
forge
forte
forts
farts
tarts
warts
worms
words
I’m clueless…I’ve searched everywhere…and I am thoroughly STUMPED! HELP!
Uh yeah…slam "warms: in between those words…my bad.
And also, you may enjoy the word “tarts”…but it doesn’t need to be there. I’ll lay off making fun of you.
For now…
How about if we went from Lost to Found?
You could tack on a letter once, at either end but not in the middle, at one time only, to make up for the discrepancy.
[sub]Just trying to give us something to do while moronmountain keeps working on that “dodgy” transition…[/sub]
The only “tart” I enjoy there, JBERGES, is you. [sub]Don’t worry people, we know eachother quite well…infact, I told him about the boards, and we have EVERY SINGLE class together.[/sub]
Oh yeah…I officially declare Dodgy -> Words impossible.
Lost -> Found
lost
lest
lent
lend
fend
fund -> found (however…)
fond
food
fool
foul
four
pour
pout
bout
boun -> alt. of bound
bound
found
Adding letters eh? Ok… try Paper -> Tape (2 steps)…
No, actually try Deck -> Cards…damn…another easy one…
Um… Straw -> Gold
straw
strew
stew
slew
slaw
slam
seam
seal
sell
bell
boll
bold
gold
That was fun!
(I too find Dodgy -> Words to be impossible, I tried for like 5 hours …)
Um … Water -> Wine?
Dodgy -> Words
(using only one “dodgy word”)
dodgy
dodge
lodge
longe -> long rope used to guide a horse during training
longs
tongs
tones
bones
bores
cores
cords
words
:: applauds ::
Since most others had thrown in the towel on that one, it seems Darwin’s Finch should receive some special recognition.