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.