Containers and deletions, clearly
The two most useful letter operations, explained with a visual mental model.
Containers have an outside
A container puts one set of letters around another. Signals include “holding”, “around”, “embracing”, and “wearing”. Write the outer letters first, leave a gap, and insert the inner result. In **“Old sailor holding A (4)”**, OLD can be the outside and A the inside, giving OALD only if the definition and order work. A complete parse makes the intended outer letters unambiguous; do not infer containment from a vague surface alone.
Deletions remove a named edge
“Headless” removes the first letter, “endless” removes the final letter, and “heartless” removes the middle. “Without X” can mean remove X from a nearby word. State the source and removed letters in your notes.
Check the surface grammar
Deletion and containment indicators often double as ordinary verbs. If the surface reading feels unusually specific, test whether it asks you to remove or enclose letters.