NG 88

New game 88 is now available.


Round 1: A E T B D E M I T

I had BEAT, BATED, wondered if BEATED might be valid somehow (it's not; DEBATE would have been the sensible anagram to try), MEDIATE, and MEDITATE.

That is the only eight (other sources might allow ADMITTEE); the other sevens are ABETTED, EMITTED, TEATIME, BEDTIME, and BEDMATE.

My selection: MEDITATE


Round 2: R D I O B T E O R

I had BIRD, ORBIT, ORBITED, ORBITER, and BROODIER.  I wasn't sure about it, but decided to risk it and that was the right decision.

It's the only eight, too.  The other sevens are ROOTIER, DEORBIT, BROODER, and BROIDER (an archaic synonym for "embroider").

My selection: BROODIER


Round 3: Target 567 from 75 25 50 100 9 7

The factor of 7 is clear; the cofactor is 81, and that is only 6 away from 75.  That led me to the solution 567 = (75 + (100 + 50)/25)*7.  Then I observed that 81 was divisible by 9, and went with the kitchen sink solution 567 = 7*9*(100 + 75 + 50)/25.

My selection: 567 = 7*9*(100 + 75 + 50)/25


Round 4: C O N G E A N M S

I had ONCE, OCEAN, wondered about CONMAN (the Macquarie requires it to be two words), and OCEANS.  That was actually a last-moment write-down; I got completely blocked on this mix.

After time I spotted SONGMAN (and its plural SONGMEN); I wasn't sure about it but I'd probably have chanced it if I saw it within time.  It is defined as "an Aboriginal man who knows and performs the traditional songs of the community".  A little later I also saw MANNOSE (a type of sugar, in the chemical sense).

Seven is the best available; MANGOES was the most common other one, a word that I've had trouble seeing in the past (and which was ably found by Toby Baldwin in the amazing food-themed episode 333).  The others are SONANCE (an obsolete term for "a sound; a tune") / ANCONES (plural of ANCON: "Architecture any projection, as a console, suppoting a cornice or the like"; it's also an anatomical term for the elbow), NONAGES (NONAGE: "any period of immaturity"), and AGNOMEN ("an additional (fourth) name given to a person by the ancient Romans in allusion to some achievement or other circumstance, as Africanus in Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus").  The plural of this last is AGNOMINA, so AGNOMENS is not valid.

My selection: OCEANS


Round 5: R A O T L N O H E

I had TARO, EARTH, LATHER, THRONE, LOATHE, and LOATHER.  I wasn't certain about this at first because I was thinking of the agent noun (one who loathes); although this turns out to be valid, what actually convinced me to go with it was the single syllable rule applied to the adjective LOATH ("reluctant, averse, or unwilling").

After time I saw ALTHORN (a musical instrument also known as an alto horn), wondered about RATHOLE (not listed), ETHANOL, and ANOTHER.

The other two sevens are ENTHRAL and ORTOLAN (a bird, a type of bunting).

My selection: LOATHER


Round 6: Target 589 from 25 100 75 5 9 1

The offsets of 11 and 14 did not look very promising, but then I realised that 14 was 9 + 5, and with the 1 around this brought tweaking options to the table.  I first found 589 = 9*(75 + 1) + 5 - 100, and then the alternative 589 = 5*(100 + 1) + 9 + 75.

My selection: 589 = 9*(75 + 1) + 5 - 100


Round 7: C P D U E U R K R

I had PUCE, PUCKER, and PURRED.  After time I noted down RUCKED and CRUDER as other sixes.

The other six is DUCKER.

My selection: PURRED


Round 8: Target 666 from 75 25 100 9 4 10

As I've mentioned before, I'm familiar with the repeated-digit numbers, and spotted that the target was 9*74 immediately.  (Perhaps also helped by 666 being a target recently in NG 80.)  The required offset of 1 needed a little thought, but it did not take too long to find the solution 666 = (75 - 25*4/100)*9.

My selection: 666 = (75 - 25*4/100)*9


Round 9: RUE PEG TAX

I contemplated going with PURGE E-TAX on this one; maybe I should have, but I didn't like the overlap in meaning.  The EX- and -ATE fragments are tempting, but it still took me a little while to find EXPURGATE ("to amend by removing offensive or objectionable matter").  Like commenter Mike, I probably first encountered this word thanks to Monty Python's bookshop sketch.

My selection: EXPURGATE (15.6s)