NG 28

New game 28 is up.

I did not get to making the changes I wanted to make this week, but I should be able to do so soon.  Starting with next week I'll aim to have things up on a regular schedule, with the new games available from a standard location (much like the old "past episodes" page).  My tentative thought was to make the standard time 6PM, but I'm open to other suggestions if anyone has opinions on the matter.


Round 1: R K R F I O A T G

I had FORK, FAKIR, GRAFT, GRIFT, RATIO, and ARGOT / GROAT.  After time I finally saw the six of TROIKA.

The other six turns out to be FORGAT, an archaic past tense of FORGET.


Round 2: P O A H M I E D L

I had HOME, HOMED, POMADE, IMPALED, HAPLOID ("single; simple"), and DIPLOMA.

It looks like seven is the best to be done; the other sevens are IMPLODE, HELIPAD, IMPLEAD (a rare legal term: "to prosecute or take proceedings against (a person) in a court of justice"), HAEMOID ("bloodlike"), and OEDIPAL (which I admit I was surprised to find has an acceptable lowercase form).


Round 3: 582 from 100 75 3 4 2 5

I first applied the standard method to get the solution 582 = 5*100 + 75 + 4 + 3, then looking at the offset from 600 realised that there was a clear factor of 6.  That gave the alternative solution 582 = (4 + 2)*(100 - 3).


Round 4: U L R O E T D N E

I had LOUR, ROUTE, TOURED, and ROUNDEL ("something round or circular").  After time I noted TRUNDLE as another seven, and a bit later finally found REDOLENT for eight.

The other eights are ROUNDLET ("a small circle or circular object"), UNDERLET ("to let below the true value" or "to sublet", both in the sense of leasing property), and DEUTERON ("a deuterium nucleus").

The other sevens are DENTURE / TENURED / RETUNED, ERODENT ("eroding; erosive"), TOLUENE (a chemical -- it's the second T in TNT), and URODELE ("belonging or relating to the suborder of the Amphibia, including the newts and salamanders, which retain tails throughout adult life").


Round 5: F B B A O N C U G

I had BACON / BANCO (a call used in baccarat, which I know thanks to James Bond novels), and GUANO.  I did wonder about FUNBAG, but that is listed only as a plural form (FUNBAGS).  It's also safe to say that the show would have required a different word be chosen.

The six here -- well found by Mike and Victor -- is CONFAB.


Round 6: Target 820 from 75 3 4 10 9 6

The factor of 10 was a tempting start, and it was an easy step to 820 = (75 + 4 + 3)*10.


Round 7: T A E O S R S C E

I had SATE, ROAST, ROASTS, CREATES, ACTRESS, and CASTORS.  So many sevens here -- ESCORTS / CORSETS / SECTORS, ROSEATE, TESSERA, etc. -- but I could not find longer within time.  Afterwards I wrote down some of those sevens, and then eventually saw the distressingly common COASTERS for eight.

The other eight is COARSEST.


Round 8: Target 313 from 100 5 6 1 10 1

I started two off with 315 = (6/(1 + 1))*100 + 10 + 5, and then got two off in the other direction with 311 = (5*6 + 1)*10 + 1.  I managed to get to one away within time with 312 = (100/(1 + 1) + 10/5)*6, and that was the best I could do.

It turns out that the target is not reachable, and one away is the best to be done.


Round 9: NEURAL END

I got sidetracked by UNDERLEAN, and did not recover.  The answer is UNLEARNED.