Also, to help keep those who have already seen that episode at least partially interested, there's another game after the cut. This is the bare-bones version (I hope to get a spiffier one up later), and timing is going to be hard to tell; in particular, for non-conundrum rounds one should allocate more than thirty seconds to reflect the thinking time gained as the letters or numbers go up. Just take your best shot at it, and enjoy, and post results in the comments.
The letter rounds use a distribution similar to but probably not exactly matching one used for much of series three. I performed the selection by choosing the habits of some contestants ahead of time, only varying them if things got unusually nasty. Similarly to an extent with the number rounds. For the conundrum I ended up just using an old Countdown one since it would take me a bit too long to sort out the code for producing candidate conundrums.
Round 1:
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Round 2:
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Round 3:
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Round 4:
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Round 5:
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Round 6:
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Round 7:
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Round 8:
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Round 9:
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9 comments:
Hi Geoff,
Since I didn't find your blog until the end of the Masters' series, I will still go through my answers here.
Like you, I was also leading at the first break, but then the full monty sunk me. Apart from that round, I didn't lose any other rounds, except for the conundrum.
MOPES (5)
CUPID, PUCKA (5)
(5+8)*50 - 3 - 4 = 643 (7)
TIRADES (0)
GROUTERS (8) I would have gone with the meaning as someone who grouts, too! Just as well it had another meaning
7*100 + 4*(50+75/25) = 912 (7)
ROTATED (7)
(4+3)*100 + 75 + 10 + 6 = 791 (10)
-
Nice results, Jan, and very well done with that 912; I played through it again and the best I managed on that round was 918.
Here are mine for Ep94:
MOPES
PACK
Andrew's way (1 off)
RAISED
GROUTS (do I really need to comment?)
Andrew's way again (9 off)
RATTED
Lily's way
x
Geoff - I wasn't sure where I should put the E94 answers, so put them in both places. What is the preference?
Here are mine for the additional game which I presumed I need to adhere to the usual 30 sec time limit.
LIKES
GROUND
(6-5+1)*100+75=275 (1 off)
CHARM
COMERS
(3+1)*75+8-9/9=307
SUITCASE
7*100-75+5=630 (1 off)
x for the conundrum!
It's amazing how quickly one can do a game like this without all the in between stuff (which I like of course!).
Mike - well done for spotting SUITCASE!
FLAKES
AGROUND
5*75 - 100 - 1 = 274
MONARCH
COALERS
9/9=1. 8-1=7. (3+1)*75 + 7 = 307
CAUSED
(100+25)*5 + (7-3)= 629
BATTALION - 25 secs
I'm fine with them going in both places, Mike. And yes, the intent was to try to stick to the usual 30 seconds, although I appreciate it can be difficult without the music. I'm also interested in after-time results.
I might do a more usual blog post about this to reveal best answers, but here's the results I ended up with:
FLAKES
DRAGOMEN
274 = 5*75 - 100 - 1
ROMANCE
CEREALS
307 = (3 + 9/9)*75 + 8 - 1
CAUSES
629 = 5*(100 + 25) + 7 - 3
[invalid: TABLATION]
Nice work getting SUITCASE! I was in all sorts of trouble in that last letters round; I can see how not writing the letters down in a different order would have been a help here. *chuckles*
And congratulations, Jan! I thought that was a tough conundrum, and it gave you a two-point win over me. I doubt I'd have seen the answer within time even if I had rejected TABLATION. Also, MONARCH is a lovely find.
Here's further breakdown on the possible answers for each round:
Round 1: K A H E L I J F S
I had HAKE, FLAKES, and rejected (correctly) LAKEFISH, FLAKIES, and FLASHIE.
There is one seven: KHALIFS (KHALIF being a variant spelling of CALIPH: "the head of a Muslim state"). The other sixes are KHALIF, ELFISH, and two rather Australian words: SHEILA and ALKIES. FALSIES only exists in plural form, so FALSIE is not valid.
Round 2: E U O M N D A R G
I'd pre-set letter patterns to be chosen so as to avoid my personal biases, but I was still tempted to chase a final E for EUDAEMON. As it was I had MOUE, DEMON, UNARMED, AGROUND, GUERDON, and DRAGOMEN (plural of DRAGOMAN: "(in Middle Eastern countries) a professional interpreter"; DRAGOMANS is also an acceptable plural form).
The other eight is GOURMAND; the other sevens are GORMAND (variant spelling of GOURMAND), GROANED, UNDERGO, RONDEAU, MAUNDER / MANURED, MOURNED, NEUROMA, ORGANUM, and MARENGO / MEGARON.
The Macquarie does not list AGENDUM (the original singular form that AGENDA derives from), as it is never used these days.
Round 3: Target 274 from 100 75 1 6 5 6
The target is 1 away from 275, so that must be the tempting approach. I started with 274 = 5*75 - 100 - 1 and then found the alternative of 274 = (6 + 5)*(100 - 75) - 1.
Round 4: O E A M R C N C H
I had MORE, wondered about AMORE (invalid), CREAM, and ROMANCE. After time I saw CHANCRE ("the initial lesion of syphilis [...]") and checked on CHANCER (invalid).
There are two eights here: COACHMEN and ENCROACH. The other sevens are COACHER / CAROCHE (a type of carriage), MENORAH, MONARCH / NOMARCH ("the governor of a nome or nomarchy"; a nomarchy is a province of Greece), and CONCHAE (plural of CONCHA: "a shell-like structure, especially the external ear").
Round 5: M O L E C A R E S
I had MOLE, CAROM, CAROMS, SCREAM, and CEREALS.
There are two eights: RACEMOSE ("having the form of a raceme") and SCLEROMA ("a tumour-like induration of tissue"). That latter makes this the round with the missed full monty opportunity, as staying with three vowels would have added another S for SCLEROMAS. There's a few other sevens, of which the more findable were CREOLES and ORACLES.
Round 6: Target 307 from 75 8 3 1 9 9
The nearest multiple of 75 was 300, 8 - 1 gives the final 7, and it was just a question of getting the needed 4. That worked out, and I had 307 = (3 + 9/9)*75 + 8 - 1. Of course, the 9/9 and the 1 can be swapped in this approach.
Later checking turns up many other solutions, but my favourite is 307 = 3*75 + 9*9 + 1.
Round 7: S U C A S E D I T
I had CUSS, CASES, CAUSES, and wondered about DIECAST. I decided correctly that it would require the hyphen, so six was where I stayed. After time I found CASUIST ("someone who studies and resolves cases of conscience or conduct") and STUDIES / TISSUED as other sevens.
There are two eights, though; Mike did rather well to find SUITCASE, and the other is an anagram of it: SAUCIEST. There's a fair few other sevens, it turns out, but I'll only mention DISSECT.
Round 8: Target 629 from 75 100 25 5 3 7
The standard method applied, so I wanted to retain the 7 and 3 for the final offset of 4. The rest was likely to be manageable, and I went with 629 = 5*(100 + 25) + 7 - 3. An alternative is 629 = 25*(100 - 75) + 7 - 3.
Round 9: TO TALIBAN
I did not see anything likely, but the -ATION ending was tempting and I fell from grace by trying TABLATION. That was not correct, but I don't think I would have found BATTALION within time in any case. Well done to Jan on solving this one!
FLAKES
AGROUND
274 = 5*75-100-1
ROMANCE/MONARCH
SCREAM, disappointing. COALERS after time.
307 = (3+9/9)*75 + 8-1
x SUITCASED (why not!)
629 = (75*25 + 7+5)/3
~10s BATTALION
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