NG 56

New game 56 is now available.


Round 1: M L E W E A T R I

I had MALE, a dubious MALTER and MALTIER (I was pretty sure I'd looked this up in the past and it was not listed), RETAIL, an uncertain MEATIER (conversely, I thought that I had seen this in the Macquarie before), wondered about LIMEWATER, and settled on MATÉRIEL ("the aggregate of things used or needed in any business, undertaking, or operation (distinguished from personnel)") for eight.

That is the only eight, but it turns out I should have risked LIMEWATER after all: "an aqueous solution of slaked lime, used medicinally and otherwise").

The sevens are WARTIME, MEALIER, EMIRATE, and ATELIER ("the workshop or studio of an artist").

My selection: MATÉRIEL


Round 2: D I N K I U P E L

I had KIND, PINKED (PINK as a verb: "to pierce with a rapier or the like; stab"), a dubious PLINKED, a better but still uncertain PLUNKED, UNLIKED, another dubious PINLIKE, and wondered about UPLINKED.  With a little reflection I decided that UPLINK was perhaps in as a noun (it is: "a transmission path for transmitting signals from an earth station to a communication satellite") but the verb or adjective sense that would be required was probably not listed.  This proved to be completely accurate.

Unfortunately, UNLIKED is not listed either.  That took me by surprise, but on further reflection there I guess DISLIKE is the verb.  Still, I would have thought both DISLIKED and UNLIKED were adjectives with distinct meanings.  Oh, well.

It turns out that only PLUNKED gets the nod for the sevens.

My selection: [invalid: UNLIKED]


Round 3: Target 891 from 25 50 8 2 1 10

I started to think of ways to make this as 900 - 9, but was worried that one 9 would use up the other.  I thought that I had a way and started to write it down, but stopped when I realised I needed fractions for it -- it would have been (10 + 8)*(50 - 1/2).  Then I looked at the factorisation of 81*11 and found the solution 891 = (50 + 25 + 8 - 2)*(10 + 1).  Returning to my original idea, I found that I could get to 900 after all and things worked out: 891 = (10 + 2)*(50 + 25) - 8 - 1.

As I came to settle on my official selection I noted that I had miswritten the first solution, putting 75 in place of the 25.  Fortunately I saw that in time, and it makes me glad that I look for alternative solutions.  (On the other hand, it wouldn't have hurt to check the original, either.)

My selection: 891 = (10 + 2)*(50 + 25) - 8 - 1


Round 4: S M I N E P R O R

I had MINES, SIMPER, PROMISE, and wondered about PROMISER but preferred the anagram PRIMROSE.  Later checking showed that PROMISER would have been all right (with PROMISOR being an acceptable alternative in legal contexts).

The remaining eight is PRISONER.

The other sevens are PRIMERS, ROMPERS ("a one-piece loose outer garment for a baby combining a sleeveless top and short or long trousers"; note that ROMPER in the singular is not acceptable), IMPOSER, IRONERS, MERINOS, PEONISM (alternative form of PEONAGE: "the practice of holding persons in servitude or partial slavery, as to work off debt ot (under a convict lease system) a penal sentence"), PERRONS (PERRON: "an outside platform upon which the entrance door of a building opens, with steps leading to it"), and ORPINES (ORPINE being a type of plant).

My selection: PRIMROSE


Round 5: C N M E O U C C O

Bah, after some good mixes this unpromising duplication turns up.  I had COME and OUNCE, and that was it.

That's the best to be done; the only other five is CECUM (American spelling of CAECUM: "a cul-de-sac, especially the one at the beginning of the human large intestine, bearing the vermiform appendix").

My selection: OUNCE


Round 6: Target 882 from 50 100 6 7 2 10

With a lot of multiples of 10 around it felt right to preserve the 2 and try to make it that way.  Having the 50 was like having a 5 since it could be excluded from the multiplication by 10, and that let me find the solution 882 = 10*(100 - 7) - 50 + 2.  Then I happened to notice the factor of 7 and found an alternative solution of 882 = (100 + 2*10 + 6)*7.

Just now I noticed that I could also use the factor of 6 for 882 = 6*(100 + 50 - (10 - 7)).

My selection: 882 = 10*(100 - 7) - 50 + 2


Round 7: H Z A N A C B A D

Once the B turned up on this unhelpful set I was thinking that only a third A held out much hope of anything, allowing CABANA.  It turned up, and that was once again where I stayed, although I did briefly wonder about CABHAND / HANDCAB (I'm pretty sure I was thinking of HANDCART).

The other six is CHAZAN (variant spelling of CHAZZAN: "a cantor in a synagogue").

The fives are ABACA ("the fibre of the abaca tree, used in making rope, paper, and fabric (jusi)") and DACHA ("a country villa (in Russia)").

My selection: CABANA


Round 8: Target 607 from 25 50 8 4 3 9

I overcomplicated this one, as I had troubles seeing a way to make 7.  I ended up getting a solution, though: 607 = (9 + 3)*50 + 8*4 - 25.

It would have been rather simpler to solve this as 607 = 8*(50 + 25) + 4 + 3, but somehow I overlooked that.  (It was the simplest of the several other solutions that computer searching found.)

My selection: 607 = (9 + 3)*50 + 8*4 - 25


Round 9: EMAIL UNTO

A quick solve, certainly by my usual standards.  The -ATION is generally worth a look and I found EMULATION after 1.8s.