NG 59

New game 59 is now available.


Round 1: T I R I E P C H E

I had RITE, TRIPE, PITCHER, wondered about PITCHIER, and ITCHIER.  I decided against PITCHIER, but later checking shows that it would have been acceptable.  In this case, PITCHY is related to the petroleum or plant derivative sense of PITCH.

There is another eight: HERPETIC, the adjective derived from HERPES.

The other sevens are RECEIPT, HERETIC / ETHERIC / TECHIER, PRITHEE, and PICRITE (a type of igneous rock).

My selection: PITCHER


Round 2: T A D E H S L A N

I had DATE, DEATH, DEATHS, SLANTED, and HANDLES.  It seemed like a fruitful mix to consider compound words on but I was not able to get anything longer from that approach.  After time I noted DENTALS as another seven (DENTAL as a noun is a sound like the th in thin which is made "with the tongue tip touching or near the upper front teeth").

Seven turns out to be the best possible; Chambers would allow a lowercase sense of SHETLAND, but the Macquarie does not.

The other sevens are SEALANT, HANDSET, HANDSEL ("the first use or experience of anything; foretaste"), ALTHEAS (ALTHEA being a variant spelling of ALTHAEA, a type of plant), ETHANAL (a type of chemical), and ANSATED (alternative form of ANSATE: "having a handle or handle-like part").

Update: Commenter Victor used the Macquarie target solver to find SLANTHEAD (also SLOPEHEAD, SLOPE: "Colloquial (derogatory) a member of certain Asian peoples, as Chinese, Vietnamese, etc.").  So there is a full monty after all, although the show would never have let it get to air.
My selection: HANDLES


Round 3: Target 268 from 75 100 5 1 7 1

The offset from 275 is 7, which is provocative.  That led me to 268 = (1 + 1)*100 + 75 - 7, and a little later to the alternative 268 = 5*75 - 100 - 7.

My selection: 268 = 5*75 - 100 -


Round 4: K S U P R I A T A

I had been hoping for a final O and TROIKAS, but no such luck.  I had SPUR, SPARK, PARKAS, correctly rejected UPSTAIR, and TAPIRS.

There's a decent number of sixes, with some of the more common ones being TIARAS, PURIST, and RAPIST.  But there is one seven: UAKARIS, as UAKARI is a type of monkey.

My selection: TAPIRS


Round 5: N E D A C T B A M

I had DEAN, DANCE, CANTED, and MANDATE.

MANDATE is the only seven, and there's nothing longer; some sources do list BANDMATE but not the Macquarie.

There's quite a few other sixes, with some of the common ones being DECANT, BATMAN, and BATMEN.

My selection: MANDATE


Round 6: Target 792 from 50 6 5 8 4 5

The target is 8*99 -- which I've just noticed could have been made as 8*(50 + 5*5 + 6*4) -- which is also 800 - 8.  The standard method applies pretty easily to give the solution 792 = (5 + 5 + 6)*50 - 8; then I looked at the 8*99 approach to get 792 = ((6 - 4)*50 - 5/5)*8.  I found a variation on that theme with 792 = (50 + 6*(5 + 4) - 5)*8, and finally broke down the factorisation further to avoid the large number entirely with 792 = 8*(5 + 4)*(6 + 5).

My selection: 792 = 8*(5 + 4)*(6 + 5)


Round 7: U C S I G O M N O

I had COUSIN, MOOING, correctly rejecing MOOINGS, COMINGS, COOING, rejected COOINGS, and OMINOUS.  After time I noted GNOMIC ("of, relating to, or denoting a writer of aphorisms, especially certain Greek poets") and wondered if GNOMICS would be valid but there is no associated noun sense.

The other sevens are MOUSING, CONIUMS (CONIUM being a type of plant), and probably CONGOUS (CONGOU: "a kind of black tea from China").

My selection: COMINGS


Round 8: Target 680 from 25 2 5 1 7 6

The standard method suggests making this as 27*25 + 5, and with a bit of fiddling I managed to get that to work: 680 = ((2 + 1)*7 + 6)*25 + 5.  Then I looked at the factorisation of 17*40 and found another solution of 680 = (25 - 6 - 2)*5*(7 + 1), and finally went for 5*136 with 680 = (6*25 - 2*7)*5.

My selection: 680 = (6*25 - 2*7)*5


Round 9: TRY ALL ALE

With so many L's and the Y the -ALLY fragment is tempting, and after 1.6 seconds I found LATERALLY.