Monday 7 January 2013

NG 37

New game 37 is up.


Round 1: I E F TN I I R D

An excess of I's to start, so it looks like it's going to be one of those games.  I had FEINT, FINITE, and NIFTIER (helfpully still in my memory as valid after Jan found it in NG 30).

The other sevens are NITRIDE / INDITER (INDITE: "to compose or write, as a speech, poem, etc.").

But there is a nine!  To NITRIFY is "to impregnate (soil, etc.) with nitrates", and so NITRIFIED is the full monty.


Round 2: B E T U S W E C A

I had TUBE, TUBES, and BECAUSE.  I amused myself by pondering things such as a CUBESEAT (I have one of these, or something essentially the same) or a WASTECUBE, but could not better the seven.

There is one other seven, a typical new Macquarie word: WEBCAST.


Round 3: Target 255 from 100 25 10 3 9 10

I flailed for a bit, but then the factor of 3 came to my rescue and I found 255 = (100 - 25 + 10)*3.  With 25 and a pair of 10's around getting most multiples of 5 should be relatively straightforward, and I also found 255 = 9*25 + 3*10.

After time I played around with some other options and also found 255 = 3*9*10 + 10 - 25.  But it took until just now for me to spot the rather straightforward 255 = 3*100 - 25 - 10 - 10.  Heh.


Round 4: N E M E E D L G E

Yes, definitely one of those games, and with so many E's so early it's entirely possible there won't be any more for the rest of the game.  I had EMEND, wrote down GLEENED but realised I was thinking of GLEANED, and LEGEND.

The other six is NEEDLE; there should be a third one of LEGMEN (LEGMAN being a variant form of the colloquial LEG MAN: "someone who runs errands, especially for a business office"), but for some reason the Macquarie omits the plural form.

There is one seven, though: GLEEMEN (plural of GLEEMAN: "a strolling professional singer or minstrel").


Round 5: I I P T O A L N O

I had PATIO, wondered about PILATION -- in retrospect I was thinking of EPILATION -- but ultimately rejected it, and PLATOON.

There is an eight here: OPTIONAL (nicely spotted, Victor).  The other seven is PINTAIL, which can refer to a few different birds.


Round 6: Target 990 from 100 3 2 10 8 9

I started fairly easily with 990 = 9*(100 + 10), then went down from above with 990 = 10*100 - 8 - 2, and finished by avoiding the large number entirely with 990 = (8 + 3)*9*10.


Round 7: I S M O O C D A C

I had MOOS, DOOMS / MOODS, and COMICS / COSMIC.

Six seems to be the best possible; the others are COCOAS, CADMIC (adjective derived from the element CADMIUM), and MOSAIC.  Some sources would allow MODICA as a plural form of MODICUM, but not the Macquarie.


Round 8: Target 186 from 100 8 4 10 9 5

I went with 186 = 100 + 9*10 - 4, and did not really look for more.


Round 9: NEW DOLLAR

A tricky one, it feels.  I started off by looking at the -OWN- fragment, DOWN- in particular, but nothing came of that.  I tried -LAND but was likewise unsuccesful, but then considered -LANDER and after 11.4s had the answer of LOWLANDER.  This is essentially the flipside to a more familiar HIGHLANDER.

7 comments:

Victor said...

Surprisingly tough conundrum.

1. NITRIDE
2. WASTE
3. 255 = 3*(100 - 10) - 25 + 10
4. NEEDLE
5. OPTIONAL
6. 990 = 9*(100 + 10)
7. COSMIC
8. 186 = 100 + 9*10 - 4
9. -

Jan said...

It took me just under 3 mins, but I finally got the conundrum.

NIFTIER
BECAUSE
100*3=300. 25-(10+10)=5. 5*9=45. 300-45=255 ( a roundabout way, but I got there)
NEEDLE, LEGEND after time GLEEMEN
PLATOON (good work with OPTIONAL, Victor)
10*100 - 8 - 2 = 990
COSMIC, MOCCAS
9-4=5. 8/4=2. 2*100 - (10+4) = 186
LOWLANDER - 175.9 secs

Sam Gaffney said...

1. FINITE/FRIEND
2. BECAUSE
3. 255 = (25*100-10)/10 + 9-3
4. LEGEND
5. OPTIONAL
6. 990 = 9*(100 + 10)
7. COMICS
8. 186 = 100 + 9*10 - 4
9. 14.2s LOWLANDER

Mike Backhouse said...

Two fours and a five. One of 3 numbers rounds. Not my game today.

FINITE
BECAUSE
25*10+(9-3)=256 (1 off)
MELD (all those E's- I just panicked!)
LOAN
Jan's way
MOODS
100+8*10+5=185 (1 off)
x- went for my favourite -ED possibility, which was not there!

Well done to Victor and Jan for finding words for those hard mixes and getting all the numbers.

JT said...

I'll bost very hard on finding OPTIONAL, although not so much when the closest I got to the conundrum was WALLANDER....

FINITE
TUBES
254-25*10+3+10-9
xMENDLE, shocking letters
OPTIONAL
990-(8+3)*10*9
DOOMS
186-100+9*10-4
-



Geoff Bailey said...

I think you're right to be happy about finding OPTIONAL, JT. Mind you, I'm happy at beating Sam to the conundrum for once. *chuckles*

Well done to those who spotted BECAUSE, too -- it can be elusive.

Sam Gaffney said...

Ha ha, yes, it wasn't an easy conundrum.

I will claim coolest Round 3 solution.