NG 82

New game 82 is now up.


Round 1: P C N N E E A E M

After the first four letters I wrote down a speculative PINNACE, but it would have taken a fifth vowel to get the required I as it turns out.  I had PENNE, MENACE, rightly rejected PEACEMEN, and then PENANCE.  Unfortunately I had a bit of a brain failure, possibly caused by PINNACE and PENNE, and convinced myself that the correct spelling was PENNANCE.  That left me declaring MENACE for six despite having the better word written down.  Oh, dear.

The next morning I realised that PACEMEN (plural of PACEMAN, another term for a fast bowler in cricket) was another seven.  A little more attention to PEACEMAN and I could have seen that.

PENANCE and PACEMEN look like the only sevens (PEN-NAME requires the hyphen).  The other sixes are ENCAMP, PENMAN ("someone who uses a pen"), PENMEN (plural of PENMAN), and PENNAE (plural of PENNA: "a contour feather, of a bird, as distinguished from a down feather, plume, etc.").

My selection: MENACE


Round 2: T I B A S O G E C

I had BAIT, BAITS, BOATS, didn't like COSTAGE (rightly so), COATIS, and rather late in the piece BOATIES (BOATIE: "a person who owns and runs a small craft").

There is an eight here: ICEBOATS.  The other sevens are ICEBOAT, CAGIEST, and BOSCAGE ("a mass of growing trees or shrubs; woods, groves, or thickets").

My selection: BOATIES


Round 3: Target 875 from 100 50 25 5 2 10

Possibly my favourite number (in the context of the show) as it is 5*175 or 7*125 and often formable.  Strangely, my first solution was the rather cumbersome 875 = 10*100 - 2*50 - 25, but then I recalled those factorisations and found 875 = (5 + 2)*(100 + 25) and 875 = 5*(100 + 50 + 25).  I rounded it out with the 35*25 option and 875 = 25*(50/2 + 10).  (In retrospect, 25*(50 - 10 - 5) was perhaps simpler.)

My selection: 875 = (5 + 2)*(100 + 25)


Round 4: G O K O R U L O B

Bleah, a mostly unhelpful mix.  I had ROOK and BROOK.

I managed to overlook BOOK, though, and if I had seen that I might perhaps have found the seven of LOGBOOK.  The six is BURGOO (which I mentioned in NG 44; it means "a thick oatmeal gruel, especially as eaten by sailors" and is the origin of the term GOO).  BROOK is the only five (the Macquarie does not list BOURG).

My selection: BROOK


Round 5: S C A D L E I T U

Oh, such good letters -- long words seemed highly likely.  Unfortunately, I really struggled amid all the possibilities, getting down CADS, SCALD, DECALS, LADIES, DETAILS, DUALIST, and -- probably a bit too late, but my timing is uncertain -- finally saw the familiar CITADELS / DIALECTS pair.

A final E instead would have given DELICATES for nine (or an O gives DISLOCATE, or an I the more difficult DEISTICAL).  A shame about the actual U.

Eight is the best, though; the other one is SULCATED (variant form of SULCATE: "cleft, as a hoof").  There are a lot of sevens, as is to be expected with such decent letters.

My selection: CITADELS (maybe)


Round 6: Target 212 from 3 3 9 7 6 6

I flailed for a bit, then recognised that the target was near 6*6*6 = 216.  Happily the rest of the numbers cooperated, giving the solution 212 = (9 - 3)*6*6 - (7 - 3).

The only other solution could be considered a variation of the same idea: 212 = 9*(3*6 + 6) - (7 - 3).

My selection: 212 = (9 - 3)*6*6 - (7 - 3)


Round 7: N M A T N I R E O

I had MAIN, MARTIN, MINARET, REMNANT, MENTION, and NOMINATE.  Obviously I toyed with the idea of NOMINATER but it was not hard to avoid it (NOMINATOR does turn out to be valid, though).

The other eights are ORNAMENT and ANOINTER.

My selection: NOMINATE


Round 8: Target 289 from 75 7 6 2 4 9

I recognised the target as the square of 17, but it was clear that making a 17 would require at least three small numbers and so leave at most two to use with the 75 to make another.  That did not look hopeful, but I did check and I was able to make it work after all: 289 = (9 + 6 + 2)*(75 - 7)/4.  Then I reverted to more typical methods and found the boring 289 = 4*75 - 9 - 2.  Oh, well.

My selection: 289 = (9 + 6 + 2)*(75 - 7)/4


Round 9: RACED TEXT

Only a little rearrangement is required to find EXTRACTED from that.

My selection: EXTRACTED (2.2s)