Squeeze#1

How to play

Squeeze is a daily word puzzle that works like a word ladder in reverse. You start with one long word and press letters out of it, one at a time, until no more will come out.

1. Tap a letter to squeeze it out. The letters that are left stay in the same order.
2. Every step has to be a real word. If removing a letter doesn't leave a word, the press shakes and nothing happens, so you can try again.
3. Keep going until there is no letter you can take out. Your score is the length of your chain, counting the starting word.
4. Par is the longest chain anyone could make from today's word. Some letters lead to dead ends early, so think a step or two ahead.
5. There is no undo. Everyone gets the same word, and a new one arrives at midnight Eastern time.

For example, PLANETS can become PLANET, then PLANE, PLAN, PAN, AN and finally A: a chain of seven, which is the most a seven-letter word can give. But squeeze the T out first and PLANES can become LANES, then LANE, and LANE has no letter left to give: a chain of only four.

Squeeze uses a dictionary of common English words. Plurals and verb endings count, but names, abbreviations and rare Scrabble words don't.