NG 23

New game 23 is up.  Enjoy!  Also the longer results for new game 22.

A poor effort from me today, I feel.  Ah, well.

Round 1: M L N E O I D Q T

I had LEMON, MOILED, TOILED, and wondered about MIDTONE.  I decided to chance it, and that was the wrong decision.  After time I noted a couple of more unusual sixes of DOLMEN and MELOID.

There is one seven after all, though: LENTOID ("having the shape of a biconvex lens").


Round 2: G F S T E E E R I

I had a speculative (and invalid) FEST, FETES, FREEST, correctly rejected EFREETS and IFREETS (I've looked them up before enough times to know they are not listed), and settled on GIFTERS.  I'd considered REGIFTS also, which after reflection I might have liked better, but for some reason I did not write it down and so did not have the option.  After time I noted down FESTER as another six.

Unfortunately GIFTERS is invalid (as is REGIFTS), so I've started off with two invalid words.  That's not easy to come back from, so I'm predicting some losses to the commenters today.

Once again there turns out to be a seven, disappointingly obvious in retrospect: EERIEST.


Round 3: Target 770 from 75 50 3 3 10 2

The factor of 10 stands out a mile, and it is a tiny step to 770 = 10*(75 + 2).


Round 4: M S C T A E A R W

I had ACTS, STEAM, STREAM, and CAMERAS.  I was pleased to spot that last one, as I know that I've missed it a few times in the past.

Again seven is the best possible; the other options are WARMEST and TARMACS.


Round 5: R N C I A I D R E

That last E was certainly helpful.  I had RAIN, RANCID, RAINIER, correctly rejected RANCIDER, DENARII, and CARRIED.

The other sevens are DRAINER and CAIRNED.  But there is an eight -- well found by Sam -- which is ACRIDINE (a chemical found in coal tar; I mentioned this in episode 424 and more recently in episode 13; in fact, the mix that produced it was the same in those two episodes, with the extra letter being a B in each case).


Round 6: Target 183 from 50 3 2 5 6 3

The target is 3*61, and it is a short step from that observation to 183 = (50 + 6 + 5)*3.  I wondered if I could avoid using the 50 at all, and found that it was possible with 183 = 3*2*5*6 + 3.


Round 7: P M T O A A S S E

I had TAMP, STAMPS, and STOMPS.

A difficult mix to make anything from, but there were two sevens.  They both got a mention in a similar mix in episode 73: SAPOTAS and SAPOTES; they are each types of tree.


Round 8: Target 919 from 100 5 10 4 9 6

Applying the standard method is straightforward, and once again quickly leads to a solution: 919 = 9*100 + 10 + 5 + 4.  I also experimenting with descent from above and found the alternative 919 = 10*100 - 9*(5 + 4).


Round 9: PUT CAREER

I felt a bit slow on this one, but found RECAPTURE 7.1s in.


A disappointing start to the game for me, with those two invalid words, and only CAMERAS and maybe the conundrume offered any hope of catching up.  Disappointingly easy numbers today under such circumstances.  Still, I've only got myself to blame. *chuckles*