1. What English word is nine letters long, and can remain an English word at each step as you remove one letter at a time, right down to a single letter. List the letter you remove each time and the words that result at each step.
Startling! Remove the "l" and it becomes starting. Then remove the "t" and it is staring. The rest of the changes are as follows: string - sting - sing - sin - in - and finally, I.
