Friday 7 December 2012

NG 17

New game after the cut.


Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

432

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

847

Round 7:

Round 8:

270

Round 9:

Spoiler space

8 comments:

Victor said...

I had a very good game, until I stumbled in the last numbers round. Also I'll need to ask for a ruling on whether GLAMORS is valid.

1. MORALS
2. MEADOW
3. 432 = (10 + 6)*(25 + 9 - 4 - 3)
4. GLAMORS
5. SHOUTED
6. 847 = 2*4*100 + 50 - 3
7. SCARIFIED (!)
8. 272 = (10 - 8)*(100 + 50 - 7 - 7) - and only got to 271 after time, a real clanger for me.
9. FAVOURING (4s)

Mike Backhouse said...

It's days like these I don't feel like posting.

LAMPS
HEATED
3*6*25-(10+9)=431 (1 off)
GOALS
HOUSED
(5+3)100+50-2=848 (1 off)
SCARED
7*50-100+10+8=268 (2 off)
x

Geoff Bailey said...

It was a reasonably tough game, Mike, so chin up. *smiles encouragingly*

Victor: One of the definitions of GLAMOUR (with variant spelling GLAMOR) is "spell", and that sense cannot be a mass noun. Consequently I would claim that GLAMORS is acceptable. Also, well done on getting SCARIFIED -- I had it written down but talked myself out of it. *grimaces*

My answers:

1. MORALS
2. TOWHEAD
3. 432 = 9*3*(10 + 6)
4. SAILOR [saw SOLARIA just a touch too late]
5. SHOUTED
6. 847 = 2*4*100 + 50 - 3
7. FIACRES [incorrectly rejected SCARIFIED]
8. 270 = 7*50 - 8*10
9. FAVOURING (1-2s)

Jan said...

I reckon there were some tough mixes in that lot, but was rapt to find SCARIFIED.

MORALS
THAWED, MEADOW
9-4=5, 5-3=2, (25+2)*(10+6) = 432
MORALS (again!)
SHOUTED
2*4*100 + 50 - 3 = 847
SCARIFIED
10-8=2 2*(100+7) + 50 + 7 = 271
FAVOURING - about 5 secs

Well done Geoff on getting TOWHEAD and 270

Geoff Bailey said...

Thanks, Jan, and congratulations on SCARIFIED. Here's the longer breakdown:


Round 1: L R R O O A M P S

I had ROAR, MORAL, and MORALS.

There is a seven here: The variant spelling PARLORS. Some sources would also allow SORORAL (sisterly), but it is not in the Macquarie. It's just as well I did not see it, as I would have attempted it.


Round 2: H W D E O E T A M

I had OWED, HEATED, THAWED (an amusing pair of words), DEMOTE, and TOWHEAD ("a head of flaxen or light-coloured hair", or tousled hair, or a person with such hair). It's rarely used -- the adjective form TOWHEADED being much more common -- but I figured it was worth a shot.

After time I noted METHOD as another six. I wish that the W had been an N for METHADONE, incidentally.


Round 3: Target 432 from 25 10 3 4 6 9

The factor of 9 is clear, and the cofactor is 48. It was a short step to 432 = 9*3*(10 + 6).


Round 4: L G O A I S M A R

I was somewhat short of the mark here; I had GOAL, GOALS, and SAILOR. I also noted SOMALIA in there, but that's obviously a proper noun. I wasted time muttering about the choice of a fourth vowel as a D instead would have allowed MARIGOLDS (the D was two consonants away, as it turned out), but on the other hand a U would have given GOURAMIS. Possibly that wasted mental thought was what meant that I only saw SOLARIA a little after time ran out.

There are several other sevens, including a few which used to me on my look-for list, so I'm a bit vexed about missing them: GLORIAS / GIRASOL (a variety of opal), ISOGRAM, the variant spelling GLAMORS, GLIOMAS, and possibly LAOGAIS (LAOGAI: "(in the Chinese criminal justice system) a policy of running organised prison labour in prisons and prison camps").

But the eight is ALGORISM, the Arabic system of numerals that we use today (also an old form of the word ALGORITHM).


Round 5: H D F S U E E T O

I had FEUDS, DEFUSE, and SHOUTED (somewhat later in the piece that I would have liked). That is the only seven.


Round 6: Target 847 from 50 100 4 5 3 2

I was distracted by the factorisation 7*121 = 7*11*11, but remembered to look at the standard method and found 847 = 2*4*100 + 50 - 3.


Round 7: S D C R A I I F E

I had CARDS, SCARED, SCARFED, FIACRES, and wondered about SCARIFIED. I thought I had heard it in use (with 'scare' as the base word), but not enough to make it into a dictionary so I stayed with FIACRES.

As it turns out, SCARIFY (and hence SCARIFIED) is valid, but the base word is SCAR, not SCARE. It means "to make scratches or superficial incisions in (the skin, a wound, etc.), as in surgery". Even if I had considered SCAR as the base word I would still have rejected this as having essentially the same meaning as SCAR. Oh, well.

A few other sevens here also: DAIRIES / DIARIES / DIARISE, FAIRIES, and SIDECAR / RADICES.


Round 8: Target 270 from 100 50 10 8 7 7

The factor of 10 was tempting, and although making 27 seems difficult, the presence of 50 and 100 means that we can effectively treat them as 5 and 10 for the purposes of making that 27. That gave me 270 = (7 + 7 + 8)*10 + 50, and then I found the simpler 270 = 7*50 - 8*10.


Round 9: VIRAGO FUN

Pull out the -ING and FAVOURING drops out quickly.

Jan said...

Geoff - SCARIFIED is also used in agriculture. To scarify the field. To loosen the soil for planting. And also to scarify a seed, put a cut in it, to promote sprouting.

Geoff Bailey said...

Thanks, Jan. Looks like I need more horticultural knowledge!

Sam Gaffney said...

1. PARLORS
2. TEAMED
3. 432 = 9*6*(25-10-4-3)
4. GLAMORS
5. SHOUTED
6. 847 = (4+5)*100 - 50 - 3 spent most of the time looking for 17*50-3.
7. SCARFED, great nine
8. two off: 268 = 7*50 - 100 + 10+8
- turned out to be the right start, but I'd made an error, then had to scramble.
9. FAVOURING (somewhere in 1-2s)