10 PRINT FN f$("knight"): REM strip the first letter. You can also write PRINT "knight"(2 TO)
20 PRINT FN l$("socks"): REM strip the last letter
30 PRINT FN b$("brooms"): REM strip both the first and last letter
100 STOP

9000 DEF FN f$(a$)=a$(2 TO LEN(a$))
9010 DEF FN l$(a$)=a$(1 TO LEN(a$)-(1 AND (LEN(a$)>=1)))
9020 DEF FN b$(a$)=FN l$(FN f$(a$))