NG 78

New game 78 is now available.


Round 1: C T M B A I U S G

I wrote down a speculative COMBAT after the first four letters, but it did not eventuate.  Instead I had SUBMIT and GAMBITS.

Seven is the best to be done; the others are SCUMBAG and CAMBIST ("a dealer in the foreign exchange market").

My selection: GAMBITS


Round 2: D T E C D I G N I

The -ING fragment shows clearly, but I had more trouble using it than I should have.  I had DICED, DICING, wondered about DICTING (invalid as expected), and then found DECIDING and INDICTED as safe eights.

Those are the only eights; the sevens are IGNITED / DIETING / EDITING, INCITED / IDENTIC (an obsolete term for IDENTICAL), INDITED (INDITE: "to compose or write, as a speech, poem, etc."), and TEDDING (TED: "to spread out for drying, as newly mown hay").

My selection: DECIDING


Round 3: Target 596 from 50 75 100 4 7 1

The standard method is pretty clearly the way to go, and I had 596 = (7 + 1)*75 - 4 fairly quickly.  My next option pulled out the factor of 4 to get 596 = (100 + 50 - 1)*4, and finally I ended up using the offset of 21 instead for the mildly unusual approach of 596 = (100 + 4 - 1)*7 - 75 - 50.

My selection: 596 = (7 + 1)*75 - 4


Round 4: W N M M R O O O A

That trio of O's was rather disappointing; turning one of them into an E would have allowed WOOMERA for seven.  As it was I had MOWN, ROOM, WORM, WOMAN, and MAROON.  No such thing as a WOMANROOM, apparently.

The other six is ROMANO, a type of cheese.

My selection: MAROON


Round 5: S R N P U I A P O

Gah, I knew I was missing something here but I really struggled with it.  I had SPURN and SPRAIN, correctly rejecting UNPAIRS (and PRIAPOUS, since the adjective is PRIAPIC).  After time I noted PRISON / PRIONS as other sixes, and then an hour or so later finally noticed PARSNIP.  A little bit vexing that, as I almost wrote down a speculative TURNIPS after the first six letters, and I associate the two words relatively strongly.

The other sevens are SOPRANI (another annoying miss, I saw that not so long again in NG 63) / PARISON ("a preliminary shape or blank, from which a glass article is to be formed").

My selection: SPRAIN


Round 6: Target 463 from 5 1 3 9 1 6

A pair of 1's is rarely a good sign in any mix, but especially not 6 small.  I had trouble getting close until I looked at multiples of 10, getting to seven away with 470 = ((5 + 3)*6 - 1)*(9 + 1) and then improving it -- hopefully within time, I'm not sure, to be honest -- to 460 = ((6 + 3)*5 + 1)*(9 + 1).

That's three away, and the best to be done.  Aside from the trivial swapping of 9 and 6 + 3 it is also the only way to get that close.

My selection: 460 = ((6 + 3)*5 + 1)*(9 + 1)


Round 7: S C L E F L E E I

I had CELS, SELF, CELLS, and FLEECES.  I also spotted FEELIES, but was rightly confident it would not be listed.

The only other seven is FELLIES (plural of FELLY, variant form of FELLOE: "the circular rim, or a part of the rim of a wheel, into which the outer ends of the spokes are inserted").

My selection: FLEECES


Round 8: Target 189 from 100 25 50 75 4 3

The offsets are 11 and 14, with the latter looking like a good option; that gave me 189 = 100 + 75 + (4 + 3)*50/25.  (Seen just now is a tweak to use 11 as the offset instead: 189 = (50/25)*(100 - 4) - 3.)  Then I used the factor of 3 to get 189 = 3*(75 - (4*50 + 100)/25), although I had to work for it.

My selection: 189 = 100 + 75 + (4 + 3)*50/25


Round 9: LAP PLANET

I was presented this slightly differently -- I'd like to think the above form is easier, since it does have very little shifting to do -- and found APPELLANT quickly by my standards.  I've been reading a lot of Groklaw in recent months, so that may well be why.

My selection: APPELLANT (2.7s)