What's That Flat?
Transdeletion
A word or phrase becomes another when one letter is deleted and the others are transposed. A transdeletion must have at least four parts, each part one letter shorter than the one before. The cuewords are the lengths of the parts. For example: NINE = righteous, EIGHT = roughest, SEVEN = troughs, SIX = sought, FIVE = ghost, FOUR = shot. Another example: carfares, carafes, fracas, scarf.
Letters should be shuffled in each step. Avoid any simple deletions (or beheadments or curtailments). When unavoidable, they must be noted.
In the Baltimore transdeletion, a word or entry phrase is turned into a series of others by removing each letter in turn and rearranging the rest; the first letter is removed to form ONE, the second letter is removed to form TWO, and so on. For example: TOTAL = baker, ONE = rake, TWO = kerb, THREE = bare, FOUR = bark, FIVE = beak. Another example: WHOLE = store, ONE = rote, TWO = rose, THREE = rest, FOUR = toes, FIVE = sort.
The letters should actually be shuffled each time. Avoid simple deletions; note them with the puzzle if they do appear.