// @leet start
/**
 * @param {string[]} words
 * @return {number}
 */
var longestStrChain = function (words) {
  let cache = {};
  words.sort((a, b) => a.length - b.length);

  let max = 0;
  for (let word of words) {
    let longest = 0;
    for (let i = 0; i < word.length; i++) {
      let subWord = word.slice(0, i) + word.slice(i + 1);
      longest = Math.max(longest, (cache[subWord] || 0) + 1);
    }
    cache[word] = longest;
    max = Math.max(max, longest);
  }
  return max;
};
// @leet end