Guide to the Enigma » Flats » Terminal deletion

Terminal deletion

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A word or phrase is changed to another by removing its first and last letters. Examples: foregone, Oregon; or self-worth, elfwort (a plant). If both parts are single words, only the longest is enumerated; otherwise, both parts are enumerated.

A terminal deletion may contain three or more parts, but these are rare. A simple example: lament, amen, me.

In a phonetic terminal deletion, a word or phrase is changed to another by removing its first and last sounds. Example: kwacha (a Zambian coin), watch.

In a reversed terminal deletion, a word or phrase is changed to another by removing its first and last letters and reversing the result. Example: rebirth, tribe.

In a terminal palindrome deletion, a word or phrase becomes another when the initial string of characters is a reversal of the final string (together they form a palindrome) and deleting these two strings leaves the shorter answer, which is not enumerated. Examples: (en)gi(ne), GI; and (Lak)e Bay(kal), eBay.

See also

Foo

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Baz

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