Mental Exercises

OK, This is from an e-mail I got that many of you have already seen. It's a ONE-WORD RIDDLE, and I give you the first word. Remove one letter at a time until you are left with a single letter, also a word. And, out of curiosity only, time yourself.

My 98-year-old friend John did not use pencil or paper, only his mind. He solved the whole thing in less than 45 seconds, and that includes his two mistakes. How well can you do?

The word is STARTLING. Tick, tick, tick.

I'll list the answers in the next post.