NG 68

New game 68 is now available.


Round 1: P B C R A O I E T

I had CARP, COBRA, and then noticed the mineral BORACITE for eight (I learned this word from episode 15, and it seems to have stuck).  I added PROBATE, rejected PROBATIC (the adjective is PROBATIVE, or perhaps PROBATORY), and then found the other eight of OPERATIC.  It was no great stretch to ignore BIOCARPET.

Those are both eights listed; the other sevens are AEROBIC, EROTICA, APRICOT / PAROTIC ("situated about or near the ear"), ICEBOAT, PARETIC ("someone who has general paresis", which is to say incomplete motor paralysis) / PICRATE (a type of chemical), and ECTOPIA ("the morbid displacement of a bodily organ or part").

My selection: OPERATIC


Round 2: E A R R S U B D I

I had REAR, REARS, BARRES (BARRE: "a rail fixed at approximately hip height along a wall, used for balance in ballet"), and BRAIDERS (a mild risk, but it paid off).  I also wondered about DAUBERS, and later checking showed that it would have been all right.

After time I checked up on EARBUDS, REBRAIDS, and ABSURDER, but none of them are listed.

BRAIDERS turns out to be the only eight, as the Macquarie's erratic pluralisation strikes again -- DAUBRY is listed as an alternative form of DAUBERY ("unskilful painting or work"), but no plural form is give for either.  That could be the Macquarie taking a position about it being a mass noun, admittedly.  Anyway, DAUBRIES is not valid here although it would be in Scrabble.

There's a fair few sevens, and I'll just mention the common ones of BRAISED / SEABIRD, BRUISED, and RAIDERS.

My selection: BRAIDERS


Round 3: Target 172 from 25 50 75 100 9 4

I really started to overcomplicate this, although in the end the approach was somewhat sensible; I had 172 = (50 - (100 + 75)/25)*4, then found the simpler 172 = 100 + 75 - 9 + 4 + 50/25.

My selection: 172 = (50 - (100 + 75)/25)*4


Round 4: O T F C A A R A D

I had COAT, FACT, and FACTOR.  I also wondered about CORDATA, but figured correctly that I was thinking of the genus CHORDATA.

FACTOR is the best to be done, and the only six.  The fives are ACTOR, CRAFT, DRAFT, CARAT, AORTA, CROFT ("a small piece of enclosed for tillage, pasture, etc."), OCTAD ("a group or series of eight"), FARAD ("the derived SI unit of capacitance [...]"), and TARDO ("(a musical direction) slowly").

My selection: FACTOR


Round 5: S G L E A O N S S

I had LEGS, GALES, wondered about SONGLESS but ended up rejecting it, SEASONS, GLASSES, and LESSONS.

As it turns out, SONGLESS is listed after all and is the only eight.  The other sevens are SLOGANS, GLOSSES, LASSOES,  GASLESS, GOSSANS (GOSSAN: "a ferruginous deposit filling the upper parts of mineral veins or forming a superficial cover on masses of pyrite [...]"), and GLOSSAS (GLOSSA: "the tongue").

My selection: SEASONS


Round 6: Target 885 from 25 50 8 8 10 9

The standard method is tempting, as the offset is 10.  I started out with (8 + 8)*50 before I realised that I was being foolish and found the solution 885 = (8 + 9)*50 + 25 + 10.

My selection: 885 = (8 + 9)*50 + 25 + 10


Round 7: L R M I E M N O R

I had MILER, LIMNER (LIMN: "to represent in drawing or painting"), MERLON ("(in a battlement) the solid part between two crenels"), MOILER (MOIL: "to work hard; toil; drudge"), and MEMOIR.  I also spotted LORIMER (with variant form LORINER) which is a classic Countdown word but not listed in the Macquarie; it is a maker of the metal parts of a horse's harness.

I also rejected MERLION without writing it down, but it turns out to be the only seven; it means "an imaginary marine creature having the head and trunk of a lion and the body of a fish; the national emblem of Singapore".

The other sixes are OILMEN, IRONER, MERINO (a type of sheep), and MERLIN (a type of falcon).

My selection: MEMOIR


Round 8: Target 929 from 50 25 75 4 2 10

The standard method is tempting again, since the offset of 4 is available.  I started with 929 = 2*10*50 - 75 + 4 and then found the perhaps more straightforward 929 = (10 + 2)*75 + 25 + 4.

My selection: 929 = 2*10*50 - 75 + 4


Round 9: COINS COIN

I was much slower than I would have liked here, and at the end ended up pressing the wrong button (well, rather, I was trying to use the keyboard shortcuts and had not tabbed over to the right one) and hiding the result instead of stopping the clock.  That cost me a couple of seconds, but probably was not quite enough to get my 34.2 second CONCISION ("concise quality; brevity; terseness") back within time.

My selection: [not in time -- CONCISION after 34.2 seconds]