Worksheet activity from Dr. Funster's Think-A-Minute B1, challenging students to transform words by changing one letter at a time.

Let’s solve this step by step.

We start with the word EASY at the top.
Each line below has a blank for each letter, and one circle — meaning we change ONLY that one letter to make a new word.
The new word must be either the opposite or distinctly different from the phrase written to the right.

Also, each new word becomes the starting point for the next line — so we’re building a chain of words, changing just one letter per step (the circled one).

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Start: E A S Y

Next clue: “AND WEST” → We need a 4-letter word that is different from “west”, and we change only the last letter (since the circle is under the Y in EASY).

So: E A S _ → What word fits? Try “EAST”.
“East” is the opposite of “West” → perfect!

Now our word is: E A S T

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Next clue: “FIRST AND ___” → This is a common phrase: “First and foremost”? No, too long.
“First and last”? That’s a phrase! And “last” is 4 letters.

Current word: E A S T
Circle is under the first letter → so we change the E.

Change E to L → L A S T → “LAST”

Phrase: “First and last” → makes sense!

New word: L A S T

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Next clue: “AND FOUND” → Common phrase: “Lost and found”

Current word: L A S T
Circle is under the second letter → change A.

Change A to O → L O S T → “LOST”

Perfect match for “Lost and found”

New word: L O S T

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Next clue: “LEAST AND ___” → Phrase: “Least and most”? Or “least and greatest”? But we need 4 letters.

Wait — “Least and best”? Not quite.
Actually, think: “Least and last”? Doesn’t fit.
How about “Least and most”? “Most” is 4 letters.

But current word is L O S T
Circle is under the first letter → change L.

If we change L to M → M O S T → “MOST”

Phrase: “Least and most” → yes, opposites! Good.

New word: M O S T

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Next clue: “OF THE SHIP” → Think: “Master of the ship”? Too long.
“Host of the ship”? No.
“Post of the ship”? Maybe not.

Wait — “Cost of the ship”? Possible, but let’s see what fits.

Current word: M O S T
Circle is under the third letter → change S.

Try changing S to C → M O C T? Not a word.
Change S to P → M O P T? No.
Change S to R → M O R T? “Mort” isn’t common.
Change S to B → M O B T? No.

Wait — maybe “MOST” → change S to something else…

What if we try “MOAT”? M O A T — that’s a word! Moat of the ship? Not really.

Hold on — perhaps “HOST”? H O S T — host of the ship? Like captain? Maybe.

But how do we get there from MOST? Change M to H → H O S T → YES!

And “Host of the ship” could mean the person in charge — acceptable.

But wait — circle is under the THIRD letter in MOST → which is S.

So we can only change S.

From M O S T → change S to ? to make a word related to “of the ship”.

What about “Mast”? M A S T — mast of the ship! Yes!

But to get MAST from MOST, we’d have to change O to A — but the circle is under S, not O.

So that doesn’t work.

Alternative: Maybe “Post”? P O S T — post of the ship? Not standard.

Wait — let’s recheck the diagram.

Looking back: After “LEAST AND [circle]___”, the next line is “___[circle]__ OF THE SHIP”

In the original image layout:

After “LEAST AND ○ _ _ _” → then next line is “_ _ ○ _ _ OF THE SHIP” — wait, no, all are 4-letter words.

Actually, looking again:

The structure is:

E A S Y → does it
_ _ _ ○ → and west → we made EAST
○ _ _ _ → first and → we made LAST
_ ○ _ _ → and found → we made LOST
○ _ _ _ → least and → we made MOST
_ _ ○ _ → of the ship → now here, circle is under third letter of current word (which is MOST)

So from M O S T, change third letter (S) to something.

Possible words: M O ? T

Try M O R T — mort? Not good.
M O B T — no.
M O L T — molt? Not related to ship.
M O N T — mont? No.
M O D T — no.

Wait — what if we go backwards? Maybe I made a mistake earlier.

Let me double-check the chain.

Start: EASY
→ change Y to T → EAST (opposite of west) ✔
→ change E to L → LAST (first and last) ✔
→ change A to O → LOST (lost and found) ✔
→ change L to M → MOST (least and most) ✔

Now: MOST → change S (third letter) to ? to make word for “of the ship”

What 4-letter word ending in T, with MO_T, relates to ships?

Ah! “MOAT” — but that’s M O A T — requires changing S to A, but also O stays — wait, no: from M O S T to M O A T — you change S to A — yes! Third letter.

Is “moat of the ship” a thing? Not really — moats are around castles.

Another idea: “Mast” — but that’s M A S T — would require changing O to A, but circle is on S.

Unless... maybe the phrase is “cost of the ship”? C O S T — but that would require changing M to C — first letter, not third.

Wait — perhaps “post of the ship”? P O S T — change M to P — first letter.

No.

Let’s look ahead — next clue is “OF THE PLAY”

After “of the ship”, we have “of the play” — so the word after “of the ship” will be used for “of the play”.

Perhaps “cast”? As in cast of the play.

Cast is 4 letters: C A S T

How to get to CAST from previous?

Previous was MOST → if we change M to C → C O S T — cost? Then from COST to CAST — change O to A.

But let's see the circles.

After “of the ship” line: the word has circle under third letter → so from MOST, change third letter to get a word for “of the ship”.

Then next line: “of the play” — circle under first letter.

Then “of bad judgement” — circle under fourth letter.

This is getting messy. Let me try a different approach.

Maybe “MOST” is wrong.

Back to “LEAST AND ___”

We had LOST, changed L to M to get MOST.

But what if instead, from LOST, we change to something else?

LOST → change L to B → BOST? No.
Change L to F → FOST? No.
Change L to H → HOST — “host and least”? Not a phrase.

“Least and best” — BEST is 4 letters.

From LOST, change L to B → B O S T — bost? Not a word.

Change O to E → L E S T — lest? “Lest and least”? No.

Perhaps “least and last” — but we already did last.

Another common phrase: “least to greatest” — but not 4 letters.

Wait — “least and most” is fine.

Perhaps for “of the ship”, it’s “mast” — but how to get mast from most? Only if we change O to A, but circle is on S.

Unless the circle position is misread.

Let me visualize the original:

After "LEAST AND ○ _ _ _" — that's the fourth line down.

Then next line: "_ _ ○ _ _ OF THE SHIP" — wait, no, all lines have 4 blanks.

Looking at the user's text:

It says:

LEAST AND ○ _ _ _

then

_ _ ○ _ _ OF THE SHIP — but that would be 5 characters? No, probably typo in my reading.

In the initial description, it's:

For example:

E A S Y DOES IT

_ _ _ ○ AND WEST

○ _ _ _ FIRST AND

_ ○ _ _ AND FOUND

○ _ _ _ LEAST AND

_ _ ○ _ OF THE SHIP ← here, three underscores, circle, underscore — so positions: 1,2,circle,4

Similarly, next: ○ _ _ _ OF THE PLAY — circle on first

Then _ _ _ ○ OF BAD JUDGEMENT — circle on fourth

Then THEY _ _ ○ _ TO PLAY — circle on third

And so on.

So for "OF THE SHIP": current word is from previous, which is MOST (from LEAST AND MOST)

MOST: M O S T

Circle under third letter → S

Change S to what to make a word for "of the ship"?

What about "MORT"? No.

"MOOT"? M O O T — moot of the ship? No.

"MOPT"? No.

Perhaps it's "POST" — but that would require changing M to P, first letter.

I think I found it: "COST" — but same issue.

Another idea: "HOST" — H O S T — host of the ship? Like the owner or captain.

To get HOST from MOST, change M to H — first letter, but circle is on third letter.

Not matching.

Perhaps the word is "MAST", and we need to change O to A, but circle is on S.

Unless in "MOST", the circle is on the O? But according to the pattern, after "LEAST AND ○ _ _ _", the next line has circle on the third position.

Let's count the lines:

Line 1: E A S Y — no circle specified, but it's the start

Line 2: _ _ _ ○ — circle on 4th → we did EAST

Line 3: ○ _ _ _ — circle on 1st → LAST

Line 4: _ ○ _ _ — circle on 2nd → LOST

Line 5: ○ _ _ _ — circle on 1st → MOST

Line 6: _ _ ○ _ — circle on 3rd → for "of the ship"

So from MOST, change 3rd letter S to X to make M O X T

What X makes a word? Only if X=A, M O A T — moat

Or X=R, M O R T — mort

Neither is great for "of the ship".

Perhaps "of the ship" is "deck" but not 4 letters.

Another thought: "keel" — no.

Let's skip and come back.

Next clue: "OF THE PLAY" — circle on first letter.

Common phrase: "cast of the play"

Cast is C A S T

So if we can get to CAST, that would be good.

How to get to CAST? From previous word.

Previous is for "of the ship", say we have a word W, then change first letter to get CAST for "of the play".

So W must be ? A S T, and changing first letter to C gives CAST.

So W could be B A S T, F A S T, L A S T, M A S T, etc.

L A S T we had earlier, but we're past that.

M A S T — mast.

If for "of the ship", we have MAST, then for "of the play", change M to C to get CAST.

Perfect!

So how to get MAST from MOST?

MOST to MAST: change O to A — second letter.

But in line 6, for "of the ship", the circle is on the third letter, not second.

In MOST, positions: 1:M, 2:O, 3:S, 4:T

Circle on 3rd for "of the ship" — so we can only change S.

To get MAST, we need to change O to A, which is position 2.

Conflict.

Unless the circle position is different.

Perhaps for "LEAST AND", we didn't have to use MOST.

Let's try a different path.

From LOST (after "and found"), for "LEAST AND", instead of changing L to M, what if we change to B for BEST?

LOST -> change L to B -> B O S T — not a word.

Change O to E -> L E S T — lest, not good.

Change S to S — same.

Another idea: "least and last" — but we already used last.

Perhaps "least and first" — but first is 5 letters.

I recall that in some puzzles, "least and most" is accepted.

Perhaps for "of the ship", it's "port" — P O R T

From MOST, change S to R -> M O R T — mort, not port.

Change M to P -> P O S T — post.

"Post of the ship" — like a position on the ship? Possible.

Then for "of the play", from POST, change P to C -> C O S T — cost of the play? Not typical.

"Cast of the play" is better.

From POST, change P to C -> COST, not CAST.

To get CAST, need A in second position.

So from POST, change O to A -> P A S T — past of the play? No.

Not working.

Let's look at the next clues.

After "of the play", we have "of bad judgement" — circle on fourth letter.

Common phrase: "act of bad judgement" — act is 3 letters.

"Error of bad judgement" — error is 5.

"Mistake" — too long.

"Fault" — 5 letters.

"Sin" — 3.

Perhaps "deed" — D E E D

Or "act" not fitting.

Another common phrase: "lapse of judgement" — lapse is 5 letters.

"Slip" — S L I P — 4 letters.

"Slip of bad judgement" — possible.

So if we have a word, change fourth letter to P to get SLIP.

So previous word must be S L I ? , and change ? to P.

So for "of the play", we have a word like S L I T or S L I K, etc.

But "cast of the play" is strong.

Assume that for "of the play", we want CAST.

So the word before that must be ? A S T, and we change first letter to C.

So for "of the ship", we have a word like M A S T or B A S T, etc.

And for "of the ship", MAST is good.

So how to get MAST from the previous word.

Previous is from "LEAST AND", which is MOST or other.

From LOST, if we could get to MAST directly, but LOST to MAST requires changing L to M and O to A — two changes, not allowed.

Only one letter change per step.

So from LOST, change one letter to get a word that can become MAST in the next step.

For example, from LOST, change L to M -> MOST, then from MOST, change O to A -> MAST, but in the sequence, after "LEAST AND" is "of the ship", so if "LEAST AND" gives MOST, then "of the ship" should give MAST, but to go from MOST to MAST, we change O to A, which is second letter, but in "of the ship" line, the circle is on the third letter, as per the pattern.

Unless the circle position for "of the ship" is on the second letter.

Let's check the user's input:

"LEAST AND ○ _ _ _" — so circle on first letter of the new word.

Then next line: "_ _ ○ _ _ OF THE SHIP" — but that would be 5 characters, which is impossible.

In the initial problem statement, it's likely that each line has 4 underscores with one circle.

In the text provided:

"LEAST AND ○ _ _ _" — so the new word has circle on position 1.

Then the next line is " _ _ ○ _ _ OF THE SHIP" — but that has 5 symbols, which is probably a formatting error.

Looking back at the user's message:

"LEAST AND ○ _ _ _

_ _ ○ _ _ OF THE SHIP"

Oh, it says "_ _ ○ _ _" which is 5 characters, but that can't be, since all words are 4 letters.

Probably a typo in the user's transcription.

In the actual image, it's likely 4 positions.

Given that, and common such puzzles, I recall that this is a known puzzle, and the chain is:

EASY -> EAST -> LAST -> LOST -> MOST -> MAST -> CAST -> CASE -> CAKE -> TAKE -> TAPE -> TYPE -> TYRE -> WYRE? No.

Let's search for a standard solution.

Since this is a homework help, I should solve it logically.

Another approach: start from the bottom.

Bottom is "WET AND DAMP" — and it's given as D A M P, with D circled.

So the word before that must be ? A M P, and we change first letter to D to get DAMP.

So previous word is like B A M P, C A M P, etc.

"CAMP" is a word.

"WET AND CAMP"? Not a phrase.

"DAMP" is given, and "wet and damp" is redundant, but ok.

The clue is "WET AND" and then the word is DAMP, so "wet and damp" is the phrase, but they are synonyms, so "distinctly different" might not apply, but the direction says "either the opposite or distinctly different", and wet and damp are similar, so perhaps not.

The direction: "each word you write will be either the opposite or distinctly different from the word written to the right."

For "WET AND DAMP", the word to the right is "DAMP", and we are writing DAMP, but that's the same, not different.

That can't be.

Look at the bottom: "WET AND D A M P" with D circled, and it's already filled.

So the word is DAMP, and it's for "WET AND", so "wet and damp" — but they are not opposites; they are synonyms.

Perhaps "distinctly different" allows for synonyms? Unlikely.

Maybe "wet and dry" but it's given as DAMP.

Another possibility: the "D A M P" is the answer for that line, and we need to find the word above it.

The line is: " _ _ _ ○ POST" then "WET AND D A M P"

So for "POST", we have a word with circle on fourth letter, and we change it to get POST.

Then for "WET AND", we have DAMP, with D circled, so the word before that is ? A M P, change to D A M P.

So let's work upwards.

Final given: WET AND DAMP — so the word is DAMP.

Before that: " _ _ _ ○ POST" — so we have a word, change fourth letter to get POST.

So the word is P O S ? , and change ? to T to get POST.

So ? could be E, making POSE, or A, POSA not word, etc.

POSE is a word.

"Pose post"? Not meaningful, but the clue is "POST", and we are creating the word POST from the previous by changing the fourth letter.

So previous word is POSE, change E to T to get POST.

Good.

So word before POST is POSE.

Now, before that: " _ _ _ ○ DUCK" — circle on fourth letter, change to get DUCK.

So word is D U C ? , change ? to K to get DUCK.

? could be E, DUCE not common, or H, DUCH no, or L, DULL not.

DUCK from DUC? — what word ends with DUC and change last letter to K.

"Dock" — D O C K, but that's not D U C.

"Deck" — D E C K.

Not matching.

From POSE, how to get to the word for "DUCK".

The line before "POST" is " _ _ _ ○ DUCK" — so for "DUCK", we have a word with circle on fourth letter, change to get DUCK.

So the word is D U C X, change X to K.

What X makes a word? If X=E, DUCE — archaic for duke, but possible.

Or X=L, DULL — but DULL to DUCK is changing L to C and L to K? No, only one letter change.

From DULL to DUCK: change second L to C? Positions: D U L L to D U C K — change third letter L to C, and fourth L to K — two changes.

Not allowed.

"Dock" — D O C K, to get DUCK, change O to U and C to C, K to K — change O to U, so if the word is DOCK, and circle on second letter, change O to U to get DUCK.

But in the line for "DUCK", the circle is on the fourth letter, as per " _ _ _ ○ DUCK" — so circle on fourth position.

So for a 4-letter word, positions 1,2,3,circle(4)

So to get DUCK, the previous word must be D U C ? , and change ? to K.

So ? must be a letter that makes a word with DUC.

"duce" is a word (in tennis, or historical), so D U C E, change E to K to get DUCK.

Acceptable.

So word before DUCK is DUCE.

Then before that: " _ _ _ ○ AS A KITTEN" — circle on fourth letter, change to get the word for "as a kitten".

Common phrase: "play as a kitten" or "act as a kitten", but we need a 4-letter word.

"Frisk" — F R I S K, 5 letters.

"Purr" — P U R R, 4 letters.

"Purr as a kitten" — yes! Kittens purr.

So the word is PURR.

So for "as a kitten", we have PURR, with circle on fourth letter, so the previous word is P U R ? , change ? to R to get PURR.

So ? could be E, PURE, or T, PORT, etc.

PURE is a word.

So previous word is PURE.

Then before that: " _ _ _ ○ AND FORTUNE" — circle on fourth letter, change to get the word for "and fortune".

Common phrase: "fame and fortune" — fame is 4 letters.

So FAME.

So previous word is F A M ? , change ? to E to get FAME.

? could be D, FAMD not word, or L, FAML no, or S, FAMS no.

"Fame" from "fam?" — what word? "Fame" itself, but we need to change the fourth letter.

Perhaps "fame" is the result, so previous is F A M X, change X to E.

X could be nothing, or perhaps "fame" is not it.

Another phrase: "luck and fortune" — luck is 4 letters.

LUCK.

So previous word is L U C ? , change ? to K to get LUCK.

? could be E, LUCE — luce is a fish, or light, so possible.

So LUCE to LUCK by changing E to K.

Good.

So word before "and fortune" is LUCE.

Then before that: "THEY _ _ ○ _ TO PLAY" — circle on third letter, change to get the word for "to play".

Common phrase: "they love to play" — love is 4 letters.

Or "they like to play" — like is 4.

Or "they want to play" — want is 4.

So let's say LOVE.

So for "to play", we have LOVE, with circle on third letter, so previous word is L O V ? , change ? to E to get LOVE.

? could be D, LOVD not word, or R, LORV no.

"Love" from "lov?" — not easy.

"Like" — L I K E, so previous word L I K ? , change ? to E.

? could be D, LIKD no, or S, LIKS no.

"Want" — W A N T, previous W A N ? , change ? to T.

? could be D, WAND, which is a word.

WAND to WANT by changing D to T.

Good.

So for "to play", we have WANT.

Then previous word is WAND.

Now, before that: " _ _ _ ○ OF BAD JUDGEMENT" — circle on fourth letter, change to get the word for "of bad judgement".

As before, "slip" — S L I P.

So S L I ? , change ? to P to get SLIP.

? could be T, SLIT, which is a word.

SLIT to SLIP by changing T to P.

Good.

So word before "of bad judgement" is SLIT.

Then before that: " ○ _ _ _ OF THE PLAY" — circle on first letter, change to get the word for "of the play".

As before, "cast" — C A S T.

So ? A S T, change ? to C to get CAST.

? could be B, BAST; F, FAST; L, LAST; M, MAST; etc.

FAST is a word, "fast of the play"? Not good.

LAST — "last of the play"? Possible, but not standard.

MAST — "mast of the play"? No.

CAST is best, so previous word could be BAST or FAST, but let's see what fits with the chain.

We have from above: for "of bad judgement" we have SLIT, which came from somewhere.

The word before "of bad judgement" is for "of the play", and we have it as ? A S T, and we change first letter to get CAST for "of the play"? No.

Let's clarify the order.

The lines are:

After "of the ship" : " ○ _ _ _ OF THE PLAY" — so this line has circle on first letter, and the word is for "of the play".

Then next: " _ _ _ ○ OF BAD JUDGEMENT" — circle on fourth letter, for "of bad judgement".

Then " THEY _ _ ○ _ TO PLAY" — circle on third letter, for "to play".

etc.

So for "of the play", we have a word, say W1, with circle on first letter, and we change it to get the word for "of the play", which is CAST.

So W1 is ? A S T, and we change ? to C to get CAST.

So W1 could be BAST, FAST, LAST, MAST, etc.

Then for "of bad judgement", we have a word W2, with circle on fourth letter, and we change it to get SLIP (for "of bad judgement").

So W2 is S L I ? , change ? to P to get SLIP, so W2 = SLIT.

Then for "to play", we have W3, with circle on third letter, change to get WANT, so W3 = W A N ? , change ? to T, so W3 = WAND.

Then for "and fortune", W4, circle on fourth letter, change to get LUCK, so W4 = L U C ? , change ? to K, so W4 = LUCE.

Then for "as a kitten", W5, circle on fourth letter, change to get PURR, so W5 = P U R ? , change ? to R, so W5 = PURE.

Then for "duck", W6, circle on fourth letter, change to get DUCK, so W6 = D U C ? , change ? to K, so W6 = DUCE.

Then for "post", W7, circle on fourth letter, change to get POST, so W7 = P O S ? , change ? to T, so W7 = POSE.

Then for "wet and", we have DAMP, with D circled, so the word before is ? A M P, change to D A M P, so ? = C, CAMP, or B, BAMP not, so CAMP.

"Wet and camp"? Not good, but perhaps.

Now, back to the top.

We have to connect to the beginning.

From the top: EASY -> EAST -> LAST -> LOST -> MOST -> then for "of the ship", we need a word.

From MOST, change third letter to get a word for "of the ship".

Suppose we want MAST for "of the ship", but to get MAST from MOST, change O to A, second letter, but circle is on third letter for "of the ship" line.

Unless in the "of the ship" line, the circle is on the second letter.

Perhaps in the original image, for "of the ship", the circle is on the second position.

Given the constraints, let's assume that for "LEAST AND", we have MOST, and for "of the ship", we have MAST, and the circle is on the second letter, even though the text says otherwise.

Perhaps "of the ship" is "deck", but not 4 letters.

Another idea: "hull" — H U L L, 4 letters.

From MOST, change to HULL? Not one letter change.

I recall that in some versions, the chain is:

EASY
EAST (does it / and west)
LAST (first and)
LOST (and found)
MOST (least and)
MAST (of the ship) — so from MOST to MAST, change O to A, so circle on second letter.

Then CAST (of the play) — from MAST to CAST, change M to C, circle on first letter.

Then CASE (of bad judgement) — "case of bad judgement" is a phrase.

From CAST to CASE, change T to E, circle on fourth letter.

Then CAKE (they cake to play)? No.

" they case to play"? No.

From CASE, for "to play", what word.

" they bake to play"? No.

Perhaps "take" — T A K E.

From CASE to TAKE: change C to T and S to A — two changes.

Not good.

From CAST, for "of bad judgement", "cast of bad judgement" not good.

"Act of bad judgement" — ACT is 3 letters.

I think I found a standard solution online in my memory:

The chain is:

EASY
EAST
LAST
LOST
MOST
MAST
CAST
CASE
CAKE
TAKE
TAPE
TYPE
TYRE
DYRE? No.

For "of bad judgement", "error" not 4 letters.

Another common one: "sin" not 4.

Let's list the clues again from the user:

After "LEAST AND ○ _ _ _" : MOST

Then " _ _ ○ _ _ OF THE SHIP" — assume it's "_ _ ○ _" for 4 letters, circle on third.

Perhaps "cost" — but not.

I think for "of the ship", it's "port" — P O R T.

From MOST, change S to R -> M O R T — not port.

Change M to P -> P O S T — post.

"Post of the ship" — like a duty station.

Then for "of the play", from POST, change P to C -> C O S T — cost of the play? Not good.

"Cast" is better.

Perhaps the word for "of the play" is "role" — R O L E, 4 letters.

From POST, change to ROLE? Not one letter.

I give up; let's look for the intended solution.

Upon thinking, I recall that in this puzzle, the word for "of the ship" is "MAST", and the circle is on the second letter, so from MOST, change O to A.

Similarly, for "of the play", "CAST", change M to C.

For "of bad judgement", "CASE", change T to E.

Then for "to play", "TAKE", but from CASE to TAKE is not direct.

From CASE, for "they _ _ ○ _ to play", circle on third letter, so change third letter to get the word for "to play".

If the word is TAKE, then previous is T A K ? , change ? to E, so T A K E, but that's the same.

Change third letter: from T A X E to T A K E, so X=K, but then it's TAKE already.

Perhaps the word for "to play" is "love", and previous is "lobe" or something.

Let's calculate the number of steps.

From the bottom:

WET AND DAMP — given

Before that: for "POST", we have POSE (change E to T)

Before that: for "DUCK", we have DUCE (