Monday 24 December 2012

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.

10 comments:

Jan said...

Hi Geoff. Happy Christmas to you and my fellow players.

I really don't mind what time you put new games up, my life is pretty unorganized time-wise, so it doesn't matter for me.

I just really appreciate being able to stretch my brain this way. Thank you

Mike Backhouse said...

I echo Jan's comments.

I better get these in before the family gets up!

GROAT
OILED
5*100+75+4+3=582
RENTED
CONFAB
(75+4+3)*10=820
CREATES (pity SOCRATES is not permissable)
(5-(1+1))*100+10=310 (3 off)
UNLEARNED (70s)


Mike Backhouse said...

P.S. Just opened my presents and I got a Letters and Numbers Bumper Book of over 600 pages of games from the TV show. I hadn't seen this before. Fantastic! (I think my family might be on to my L&N obsession!)

Jan said...

What a great present! I think they might be on to your obsession. Hehe

GRAFT
DIMPLE, HAILED
Same as Mike's
ROUTED, RELENT
GUBBA (I like CONFAB)
4-3=1. (10+1)*75 - 6 = 819 (1 away) (groan that I missed Mike's way)
COASTERS
(100+(5*10)+6)*(1+1) = 312 (1 away)
UNLEARNED 207.2 secs

Victor said...

Merry Christmas to all! That sounds like a pretty cool present, Mike.

1. GROAT
2. MAILED
3. 582 = (4 + 2)*(100 - 3)
4. REDOLENT
5. CONFAB
6. 820 = 10*(75 + 4 + 3)
7. COASTERS
8. 312 = (5 - 1 - 1)*(100 + 10 - 6)

Jan said...

I got the purple L&N book!

Jan said...

PS Love REDOLENT Victor

Victor said...

Oops I forgot to add that I didn't solve the conundrum.

Geoff Bailey said...

Merry Christmas to all! Apologies for the delays, Christmas had its usual interrupty effect. I'll put up Christmas's game soon.

Some good results from people, particularly CONFAB which I missed. Well done! GUBBA was a new word to me, too. Well done on getting both the eight-letter words, Victor.

My results:

1. FAKIR
2. DIPLOMA
3. 582 = (4 + 2)*(100 - 3)
4. ROUNDEL
5. BACON
6. 820 = (75 + 4 + 3)*10
7. ACTRESS
8. 312 = (100/(1 + 1) + 10/5)*6
9. -

Sam Gaffney said...

1. TROIKA
2. IMPLODE
3. 582 = (4 + 2)*(100 - 3)
4. x UNDERTOE, saw DEUTERON later
5. x FUNBAG (I picked this over CONFAB, which I was unsure of)
6. 820 = 10*(75+4+3)
7. COASTERS
8. two off: 315 = 6/(1+1)*100 + 10 + 5. I think I had 312 early but kept trying for 313.
9. a couple of minutes