Tuesday 11 December 2012

NG 19

New game 19 is available here.  I'll edit this later to include the details; after next week I'll aim to have a more predictable schedule for when the new games go up.

Update: Details added after the cut.


Round 1: A A L R R T G O M

Not the most promising of starts!  I had ALAR (winglike), GLOAT (that I see I wrote down as GLOAR... oh, dear), AMORAL, GLAMOR, and MORTAL.

It's not too surprising that six is the best to be done; the others are MORTAR and AORTAL.


Round 2: S I C E D H I N E

I had ICES, DICES, CHIDES, and INCISED.  After time I found HEINIES (HEINIE being listed as a variant form of HINEY, an American colloquialism for the buttocks) and DEHISCE ("to gape; burst open, as capsules of plants").

The other seven is INDICES.


Round 3: Target 900 from 75 4 10 9 1 6

The target is somewhat too round for this to be a challenge, alas.  The target is 12*75, but I started by avoiding the 75 entirely with 900 = 9*10*(6 + 4).  Then I went with the more expected route of 900 = 75*(9 + 4 - 1), and finished with an overly complicated 900 = (75/(4 + 1))*6*10.


Round 4: N E B R O S O T C

I had BORNE, SOBER, BOOSTER, and CONSORT.  I also noted that a final M would have given TROMBONES, but the next M was a few letters away.

There's a fair few sevens here, but the eight is CORONETS.

The other sevens are CORONET, CORNETS, BRONCOS, SCOOTER, REBOOTS, ENROOTS, and CROTONS (CROTON being a type of plant).


Round 5: D S N N I O M D E

An I instead of that last D would have allowed DIMENSION, but the next vowel was another E in any case.  For that matter, I had hoped that the final letter would be an A for DIAMONDS.  As it was, I had DINS, IONS, MINDS, SINNED, MISDONE, and NODDIES (NODDY being a type of bird, and NODDIE being a New Zealand railways term for "a four-wheeled barrow or small wagon for passenger luggage").

The other sevens are MIDDENS and DESMOID ("resembling a ligament").


Round 6: Target 497 from 25 9 3 10 6 5

The standard method is very appealing, with the target being 3 away from 500.  I went with 497 = (9 + 6 + 5)*25 - 3, and spent the rest of the time unsuccessfully trying to find a solution as 7*71.


Round 7: S L E E I Q S M A

I had LEES, ISLE, ISLES, and AIMLESS.

The other sevens are MEASLES, MEALIES (a South African term for maize), and SEISMAL / SAMIELS (SAMIEL being another term for SIMOOM: "a hot, suffocating sand-laden wind of the deserts of Arabia, Syria, Africa, etc.").


Round 8: Target 496 from 50 100 75 7 4 2

The target is just one away from the previous one, and again we have the offset from the 500.  I started in roundabout fashion with 496 = 7*75 - 50/2 - 4, then found the simpler 496 = (7 - 2)*100 - 4.


Round 9: MARMOT OIL

In part due to round 1, I got hung up on IMMORTAL here for some time.  I flitted to -ORAL and TRI- fragments without success, but decided that the IMM- beginning was compelling.  Still, it was not until I considered the -ATOR ending (rather later than I should have) that I saw the possibility of IMMOLATOR.  I hesitated in search of something better -- a luxury I'd not have had in a game situation -- but eventually committed to it.  (Time: 23.9s.)


Some disappointingly easy numbers rounds today, but a little of interest in the letters.

10 comments:

Mike Backhouse said...

Got the numbers but nothing better than a 6 for the words.

GROAT
SHINED
(9+4-1)*75=900
CROONS
DIODES (could not find a decent -ED word. Will be interested to see if there was one).
(5*6-10)*25-3=497
SLIMES (as in the verb, although its probably US slang and not permissable)
7-2*100-4=496
x tried for several minutes but nothing.

Left out bracket in second numbers so reposted.

Victor said...

1. MORTAL
2. INCHES
3. 900 = (10 + 6 - 4)*75
4. SCOOTER
5. MINDED
6. 497 = (10 - 6)*5*25 - 3
7. AIMLESS
8. 496 = 7*75 - 50/2 - 4
9. X (IMMORTAL - 2.1s)

EG said...

Is it just me, or has the SBS L&N page gone blank? (Even though the site navigation "On TV" section still includes a link to the page.)

Not a good sign...

Note that there are still a bunch of episodes left for viewing via Ondemand tho', as they are/were available for about a month. However, in a couple of weeks time, when these episodes drop off, it seems SBS will have almost completely expunged any sign of the show (and, of course, all the fan complaints).

Mike Backhouse said...

Victor

I thought IMMORTAL too but it does not include the second O. Then I thought MAILROOM but it is also only 8 letters and is missing a T. I'll be interested to see what it is. Probably something obvious!

Mike Backhouse said...

EG. I think you're right. However, the facebook page is still there and open to comments about the show closing!

http://www.facebook.com/SBSLettersandNumbers

Jan said...

I thought the conundrum was IMMORTAL too - and was pleased I found it in 39.9 secs, but alas, it doesn't have 2 o's. then tried stuff with ROOM, MAIL and TRAIL with no success. I will be waiting with baited breath, too, to see what it is.

Victor - sorry I had to share the honours with you yesterday with TOEHOLDS. I was as pleased as punch to find that one :)

Anyway, here are today's answers...

GLAMOR
NICHES
((6-4)+2)*75 = 900
REBOOTS (hoping that is ok)
NODDIES (ditto! - tv jargon word)
6-5=1. (10+9+1)*25 - 3 = 497
AIMLESS
(7-2)*100 - 4 = 496
-

Jan said...

I left out the 10 (writing it as a 2) writing my answer out in the first numbers round.
My answer from my book
6-4=2. (10+2)*75=900

JT said...

GLAMOR
SHINED
900-(9+4-1)*75
CORNETS
NOISED
497-(10+9+6-5)*25-3
SLIMES
496-(7-2)*100-4
invalid-IMMORTAL (btw if you give up on the conudrum and can't wait for Geoff to tell you what it i syou can check with this website www.crosswordtools.com/letters-game/ for the answer.)

Geoff Bailey said...

Mike: I fully removed the earlier comment for you. SLIMES is fine, as SLIME is a verb meaning to cover with slime. It should also be pluralisable as a noun, in my opinion, as there are many types of slime. Oh, and MAILROOM is an excellent spot in the conundrum round, even if it was not the answer.

Jan: REBOOTS gets the nod, as does NODDIES. Some nice sevens there!

Nice to hear from you again, JT -- but you were so close to a longer answer in round 4!

Thanks for the notice about the SBS page disappearing, EG. That's a shame, but not really a surprise. The concern about that kind of disappearance was why I started up the lanfans site in the first place.

Sam Gaffney said...

1. MORTAL
2. INCHES
3. 900 = (9+4-1)*75
4. CONSORT, REBOOTS
5. MIDDENS
6. 497 = (10-6)*5*25 - 3
7. AIMLESS, MEASLES
8. 496 = 7*75 - 50/2 - 4
9. X (IMMORTAL - 5.7s)