NG 179

New game 179 is now up.


Round 1: P L F N I E O B D

I had FLIP, LINED, BOILED, and pondered FLIPBED but rightly avoided it.  After time I noted various other sixes of OLEFIN, FOILED, OPINED, FOIBLE, and BOLIDE ("a large, brilliant meteor, especially one that explodes; a fireball").  I also checked PONDLIFE and LIFEBOND, but no joy there.

The single seven lurking in this mix is PINFOLD ("a pound for stray animals").  Some sources give PENFOLD a similar meaning (and it makes more sense to me as an origin) but the Macquarie does not have it.

My selection: BOILED
Best: PINFOLD


Round 2: D T I A T R E S O

I had ADIT, TRAIT, TOASTED, wondered about TOASTIER (invalid, and in fact not even TOASTY is listed), TERATOID ("resembling a monster"), wondered about TERATOIDS, and ASTEROID.  I correctly recalled that TERATOID was only an adjective without an accompanying noun sense, so eight was my limit.

Indeed, eight seems the best possible, with the others being TARDIEST / STRIATED.  Scrabble would allow ADROITEST / STORIATED (Chambers: "decorated with elaborate ornamental designs"), but neither is in the Macquarie.

My selection: TERATOID


Round 3: Target 346 from 100 9 5 5 1 7

A tough one, this; we'd like to work from 300 or 400, but they both use up a few too many small numbers for comfort.  The approach of 692/2 looks tempting but it doesn't quite work out either.  In the end I scrambled to one away by ignoring the 100 entirely: 345 = 5*7*(9 + 1) - 5.

It turns out that the target is unreachable, and one off is the best to be done.

My selection: 345 = 5*7*(9 + 1) - 5  [1 off]


Round 4: R I M L I W N O M

Ergh, I struggled here.  I had LION, WORM, MOIL, NORM, and MOWN.  I hoped for a final T to bring redemption with MIRLITON (another name for a kazoo), but no such luck and I was stuck on four.

That was only a touch off the pace, fortunately.  The best on offer seems to be fives: MINOR, MINIM, and MIRIN ("a sweet Japanese rice wine; sweet sake").

My selection: LION
Best: MINOR


Round 5: G C T C O U E R E

I had GOUT, TRUCE, OUTER, correctly rejected GOUTER, lamented that the duplicated letter was not the T instead for COURGETTE (another name for a zucchini), and ERECT.

A bit off the pace again, with the sixes being COERCE and CROUTE ("a piece of fried or toasted bread on which meat dishes or small savouries may be served").  But there is a seven, one that I've found before in other instances: CORTEGE.

My selection: TRUCE
Best: CORTEGE


Round 6: Target 372 from 75 100 25 2 3 9

It seems pretty clear to make this as 375 - 3, but that is a little less straightforward than might be apparent.  I got there eventually with 372 = 2*(100 + 75) + 25 - 3.  (Seen just now: 372 = (9 + 2)*25 + 100 - 3.)  After a little flailing around I considered the factor of 12 and found the alternative solution 372 = ((9*100)/75)*(25 + 2*3).

My selection: 372 = 2*(100 + 75) + 25 - 3


Round 7: N T C D A E I O U

I was in a fair amount of trouble with this mix to start with; I had CANT and DECANT, and was struggling to find longer in the first eight.  I like to think I would have found ACTIONED eventually, but the final U simplified matters greatly to give the trio of full monties EDUCATION / AUCTIONED / CAUTIONED.

The eights in this mix are ACTIONED, UNCOATED / OUTDANCE, and EDUCTION ("the act of educing", which is to say of drawing out or eliciting).

My selection: EDUCATION


Round 8: Target 559 from 25 50 75 8 5 2

An offset of 9 seems difficult to come by (without using up too much), but the offset of 16 is 2*8 and that is helpful.  That gives tweaking options, and it was a short step to 559 = 8*(75 - 2) - 25.

My selection: 559 = 8*(75 - 2) - 25


Round 9: BORER HIVE

I started by looking at the OVER- fragment -- generally worth checking when a V is present -- and did not like what was left.  But I recalled that OVER- could also be -VORE and found the answer of HERBIVORE not long after.

My selection: HERBIVORE (4.0s)