NG 92

New game 92 is now available.


Round 1: G W N T I E E L N

The -ING turned up early but was a bit difficult to use.  I had WING, TWINGE, wondered about WELTING (I recalled it turning up as a potential answer in my first appearance on the show, but could not recall if it were valid; I had the same worries at the time, presumably, but it is valid), GENTLE, and then found WINGLET for a safer seven (and an anagram of WELTING).

After time I found ENTWINE as another seven, and noted that a second G instead of the W would have yielded NEGLIGENT.

The other sevens are LENIENT, GENTILE ("a person who is not Jewish, especially a Christian"), and WEENING (WEEN being an archaic term meaning "to think or suppose").

My selection: WINGLET


Round 2: H H I G I E K T O

I had HIGH, briefly speculated about HIGHIE but not seriously (it is not valid), EIGHT, HEIGHT, and HOGTIE.

The other six is EIGHTH.

My selection: HEIGHT


Round 3: Target 481 from 75 8 1 4 3 5

The standard method is a bit less tempting than usual with the nearby multiples being pretty far away, and neither 6 nor 7 being present (although they are easily formed).  Far more tempting is the option of making this as 480 + 1, since 480 has very many small factors.  So many, in fact, that the large number was avoidable entirely, and I solved this with 481 = 8*4*3*5 + 1.

My selection: 481 = 8*4*3*5 + 1


Round 4: C N T D E A E O R

I had CENT, DECANT, and DECORATE.

There's quite a few other eights here, many found by the commenters: ANECDOTE, RECANTED / CANTERED / DECANTER / CRENATED (variant form of CRENATE: "having the margin notched or scalloped so as to form rounded teeth, as a leaf"), and CAROTENE.

I think I've been surprised about this before, but NOTECARD is not listed in the Macquarie.

My selection: DECORATE


Round 5: R B T J U O U I A

Gah, a tough mix.  I had BOUT, BRUIT ("to noise abroad; rumour"), ABOUT, and OUIJA (although I had to check on this last in case it were capitalised or only as part of the phrase OUIJA BOARD, but it is valid as a shorter term for a ouija board).

After time I speculated about RUBOUT / OUTRUB (neither is valid, it turns out) but then found the sure six of RUBATO ("the technique of varying the tempo within a bar of music without either lengthening or shortening the bar").

Another six which has turned up a few times in this blog is TABOUR, a type of drum.  The remaining six here is JABIRU, a type of black-necked stork.

My selection: ABOUT


Round 6: Target 441 from 75 25 9 4 1 10

The target is the square of 21, which is thus also 9*49.  This factorisation is appealing, and the solution 441 = (75 - 25 - 1)*9 follows easily enough from that observation.

My selection: 441 = (75 - 25 - 1)*9


Round 7: T E A A C S L S S

I had ACTS, CASTE, CASTLE, CASTLES, rejected CASTLESS, CLASSES, TASSELS, and finally LACTASES (LACTASE: "an enzyme capable of hydrolising lactose into glucose and galactose").

LACTASES is the only eight; the other sevens are LACTASE / ACETALS ("a class of compounds of aldehydes or ketones with alcohols"), ATLASES, and CALESAS (CALESA: "a type of horse-drawn carriage, formerly common in the Philippines [...]").

A shame about that final S, perhaps, as an E instead (reasonably with the odds) would have allowed ESCALATES for nine.

My selection: LACTASES


Round 8: Target 419 from 25 75 4 2 1 9

After getting nearby with 400 the rest fell into place, giving the solution 419 = 4*(75 + 25) + 2*9 + 1.  Then I considered making it as 425 - 6, and a little tweaking made that work: 419 = (4 + 2)*(75 - 1) - 25.  This could also be considered as 444 - 25, of course.

My selection: 419 = 4*(75 + 25) + 2*9 + 1


Round 9: GOAT PAPER

I went the wrong direction here, spotting PORTAGE early and trying a rather unlikely (and incorrect) APPORTAGE.  The correct answer is PROPAGATE.

My selection: [invalid -- APPORTAGE after 8.2s]