In Competition No. 2637 you were invited to take an existing word and alter it by a) adding a letter; b) changing a letter; and c) deleting a letter; and to supply definitions for all three new words.
This challenge is a shameless rip-off of the legendary change-a-letter competition over at the Washington Post’s ‘Style Invitational’, where ingenious new permutations of this crowd-pleaser appear at regular intervals and attract a mammoth postbag. Judging by the bombardment of entries from some quarters, it proved equally popular with Spectator competitors, one of whom described it as ‘unnervingly addictive’.
As often happens, there were many more worthy winners than there is space for. I especially liked Robert Schechter’s ‘Bratitude’: ‘the proud demeanour of a misbehaving child’, Aaron Asbury’s ‘flabulous’: ‘the state of being fashionably overweight’, and Mae Scanlan’s ‘omituary’, ‘a write-up of a person’s life, with all the unsavoury parts left out’. The winners get £20 each.
Hairdresser
a) chairdresser: n.
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