NG 55

New game 55 is up (as is the writeup for new game 54).


Round 1: L O B R A D E H R

I had ORAL, LABOR, BROAD, BOARDER / BROADER, and LABORED.  I wish that E had been another A as then I could have had LARBOARD (an obsolete nautical term for port (i.e., left)) as a moderately unusual eight.

There are two eights here, though: ABHORRED / HARBORED.

The other sevens are LABORER, HOARDER, and HALBERD.

My selection: BROADER


Round 2: W C O O S M U N S

I had COWS, COOS, MOONS, and COSMOS.

The other six is SWOONS.

My selection: COSMOS


Round 3: Target 446 from 9 3 4 9 7 1

Getting close with 9*50 seems clear, but it's not so easy to use to get really close.  9*7*7 is five away with 441, and a tweak from that got me two away with 448 = (9*7 + 1)*(4 + 3).

After time I found another way to get to make the 49 instead of 7*7, and that improved things to one away with 445 = 9*(3*(9 + 7) + 1) + 4.  (In retrospect, 9*7*(9 + 1 - 3) + would have been simpler.)

It turns out that one away is the best possible in this round.  There's a fair few ways as it turns out, one of which finds an option to 9*50 that is better than 9*(7*(4 + 3) + 1).  It leads to 447 = (9*(7 - 1) - 4)*9 - 3.

My selection: 448 = (9*7 + 1)*(4 + 3)


Round 4: N S I S T E U S I

I got distracted by the -INESS option at one point, but that did not get me very far.  I had SINS, STEINS, UNITES, TISSUES, INSISTS, and SUNSETS.  After time I noted the possibility of UNITISES, although I had to look it up to be sure it was valid (UNITISE: "to make into one unit").

An A instead of the U would have been nice, allowing SANITISES for nine.  Oh, well.

UNITISES is the only eight.  The other sevens are UNITISE / UNITIES, SINUSES, SITUSES ("position; situation"), and SEISINS ("Law (in feudal English land law) possession of a freehold estate").

My selection: TISSUES


Round 5: T E A U C T E G M

I had ACUTE, MUTATE, and GAMETE.

Six is the best possible; the others are CATGUT, ACETUM ("a pharmaceutical preparation made with vinegar or dilute acetic acid as the solvent"), and GUTTAE (plural of GUTTA: "a drop, or something resembling one").

My selection: MUTATE


Round 6: Target 865 from 25 75 8 5 1 9

I first focussed on the nearby multiples of 100, and the adjustment from 900 turned out to be straightfoward: 865 = 9*(75 + 25) - 5*(8 - 1).

My selection: 865 = 9*(75 + 25) - 5*(8 - 1)


Round 7: N E G B A I P T O

I had BEGAN, TAPING, OBTAIN, NIOBATE, and BEATING.

The other sevens are BOATING and BEGONIA.

My selection: NIOBATE


Round 8: Target 760 from 100 50 5 8 1 4

76 is 4*19, so I started with 760 = (100 + 50 + 8*5)*4.  Then I used the factor of 5 to get 760 = (100 + 50 + /4)*5, the factor of 20 for 760 = (100/5)*(50 - 8 - 4), and finally the factor of 8 for 760 = 8*(100 - 5).

My selection: 760 = 8*(100 - 5)


Round 9: IT IS QUEER

Not much to say about this; I happened to find REQUISITE after 2.0 seconds.