Friday 18 January 2013

NG 46

New game 46 is up.


Round 1: S M H U E K N E O

I had HUMS / MUSH, MENUS, SMOKE, wondered about SHOEMEN (not valid), and then remembered David once finding HOUSEMEN (in episode 5, it turns out; it is the plural of HOUSEMAN: "British a male member of the medical staff of a hospital, commonly a recent medical graduate acting as assistant to a physician or surgeon").

I remember watching The Monkees growing up, but it was a safe bet that it would require a capital letter if it was even listed (it is not).

HOUSEMEN is the only eight, and there are no sevens.  The sixes are ENMESH, NEUMES (NEUME: "any of various symbols used in medieval musical notation, and still used for noting Gregorian chant, etc."), and probably HOKUMS (HOKUM: "sentimental or pathetic matter of an elementary or stereotyped kind introduced into a play or the like").


Round 2: N A R E C S B E A

I had NEAR, CRANE, CRANES, and CAREENS.  A frustrating mix, as it felt like longer should have been possible but I could not see it.  Still, just as well one of those E's was not an I as the Macquarie (to my surprise) does not list BRAINCASE.  (On the other hand, if both E's were I's then BRAINIACS would have been fine.)

There is an eight after all: CESAREAN (variant spelling of CAESARIAN, acceptable in lowercase as a term for a caesarian section).  The other sevens are ABSENCE and CASERNE (variant spelling of CASERN: "a lodging for soldiers in a garrison town; a barrack").


Round 3: Target 651 from 50 10 7 8 3 6

The standard method works handily to give a solution of 651 = (7 + 6)*50 + 8 + 3 - 10.  I had noted the factor of 3, and the cofactor of 217 was clearly 7*31, so I spent the remaining time (and then some) trying to find a solution as 3*7*31.  I was not able to, but later checking showed that this was possible: 651 = (50/(10 - 8) + 6)*7*3.


Round 4: A O D L E T C O T

I had LOAD, LOCATED, a slightly uncertain TOTALED (true to form, the Macquarie does list this American spelling), and TOOTLED.

Seven is the limit -- the grape variety DOLCETTO is not listed -- with the others being CLOTTED and CALOTTE ("a plain skullcap, as that worn by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics").


Round 5: G O A S T U E F F

I had SAGO, GOATS, and OUTAGES.  For a moment I had thought that the G was a C and SUFFOCATE was there, but it was not to be.  After time I noted FUGATOS (FUGATO: "music in [fugato] style", where FUGATO as an adjective means "in fugue style, but not according to strict rules") as another seven.

Those are the only sevens, but there is an eight: OFFSTAGE.


Round 6: Target 943 from 100 25 75 7 8 1

The standard method must be tempting here, with the 7 providing the offset from 950 and a tweaking option with the 1.  I missed that tweaking option at first and instead found the solution 943 = (8 + 1)*100 + 75 - 25 - 7, but just now have seen the alternative 943 = 7*(100 + 25 - 1) + 75.


Round 7: C M E B D I I D N

I had MEDIC and MINDED.  I also amused myself by inventing ICEBIND as a present form of ICEBOUND, but never seriously considered it.

Six looks like the best to be done; the others are MINCED, MIDDEN, BIDDEN, and IBIDEM (more usually seen in its abbreviated form ibid.: "in the same book, chapter, page, etc.").


Round 8: Target 406 from 50 25 100 75 5 1

I quickly wrote down a fallback one-away 405 = 5*(75 + 1) + 25, and then searched for better.  By considering the target as 405 + 1 = 5*81 + 1 I was fortunate enough to stumble upon one of the few solutions: 406 = 5*(75 + (100 + 50)/25) + 1.


Round 9: PEKOE HUES

I was perhaps aided by the similarity to the first round here, and found HOUSEKEEP after 4.8 seconds.

8 comments:

Jan said...

Thanks to watching Doctor in the House as a teenager, I could get my first word!

HOUSEMEN
BRACES
(6+7)*50 + (8+3) - 10 = 651
CLOTTED
OUTAGES
(8+1)*100 + (75-25) - 7 = 943
MINCED (an O would have been very helpful here)
(100+1)*5 - (75+25) = 405. 1 away
HOUSEKEEP - 16.8 secs

Mike Backhouse said...

A bit better today but missed some of those great words by you Jan!

KNEES (pity MONKEES is not allowable)
CAREENS
(10+3)*50+(8-7)=651
CLOTTED
FEAST
Jan's way
BINDED
5*75+25+100/50+1=403 (3 off) and after time (75/25+1)*100+50/10+1=406
HOUSEKEEP (23.2s) even though I saw HOUSE quickly, it still took me a while to work it out.

Mike Backhouse said...

Oops - my last after time numbers game had a phantom 10 plus I used the 1 twice. Grrr.

Victor said...

My answers;

1. SHEEN
2. CRANES
3. 651 = (10 + 3)*50 + 7 - 6
4. LOCATED
5. X (STUFFAGE)
6. 943 = 7*(100 + 25 - 1) + 75
7. MINDED
8. 405 = 5*(75 + 1) + 25
9. HOUSEKEEP - 4.9s

Jan said...

Mike. - I wanted to have MONKEES too! And what a bummer about those phantom numbers. I kept trying after time to get the exact answer and gave up after about 5 mins.

Victor - as always quicker than me on the conundrum. Well done

Geoff Bailey said...

Writeups for the last two episodes are now up -- apologies for the delays.

Nice work again, Jan, particularly with HOUSEMEN. Always good when formative childhood memories come in useful!

Speaking of which, Mike, I shared your lament about MONKEES; I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought of them! (Unfortunately, I have to point out that BINDED is not valid -- the past tense of BIND is BOUND.)

A bold try with STUFFAGE, Victor, but perhaps a little too bold. And I admit to being unfairly pleased at your conundrum time...

Congratulations to all on getting the conundrum today!

Mike Backhouse said...

Victor - I think STUFFAGE should be a word!

Sam Gaffney said...

Nice after-time 406 from Mike.

1. x ENHOUSE
2. x BEARANCES
3. 651 = (10 + 3)*50 + 7 - 6
4. TOTALED
5. OUTAGES
6. 943 = 8*(100+25-7) -1
7. MINCED
8. 406 = 5*(75 + (100 + 50)/25) + 1
9. HOUSEKEEP - 7.0s