// check for words where one letter is missing
     public String[] similarRem(String word) {
         char[] wordArr = word.toCharArray();
         char[] tmp = wordArr.clone();
         String[] words = new String[wordArr.length];
 
         // remove a letter at a time
         for (int i = 0; i < wordArr.length; i++) {
             words[i] = rem(i, tmp);
             System.out.println(tmp);
             tmp = wordArr.clone();
         }
 
         return words;
     }



     // helper method for similarRem()
     private String rem(int a, char[] word) {
         char[] tmp = new char[word.length];
                                                                                                             
         for (int i = 0; i < word.length; i++)
             if (word[i] != word[a])
                 tmp[i] = word[i];
 
         return new String(tmp);
     }