Unless I am still misunderstanding the rules, the absence of an 'f' in the hint words does not preclude it from appearing in the solution word.

The rules only specify what must be be there, or rather, what overlaps muct be there. Except for the case when the list conatins a word with 0 (zero) overlap, in which case non of its characters can appear in the solution, but 'f' is not so excluded: 

                           offcuts
                          cutoffs     
shortest:3              [sot]       [^hre]
drilling:0              []          [^drilng]    
locked:2                [oc]        [^lked]
messing:1               [s]         [^meing]
irritated:1             [t]         [^iraed]
glory:1                 [o]         [^glry]
modes:2                 [os]        [^mde]
transcribed:3           [tsc]       [^ranibed]

[download]

I think that means that both those are valid?

That my dictionary does contain 'octopus', but doesn't throw it out as a solution is a bug, but I think that the 'ff's are not.

Examine what is said, not who speaks.
Silence betokens consent.
Love the truth but pardon error.

In reply to Re^5: Challenge: Mystery Word Puzzle by BrowserUk
in thread Challenge: Mystery Word Puzzle by Limbic~Region

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