Monday 4 November 2013

NG 251

New game 251 is now available.


Round 1: O E I S C Y H A N

I had ICES, CHOSE, CHAINS, wondered about HYACINE but realised I was mentally crossing HYACINTH and HYALINE ("something glassy or transparent"), and CYANOSE.  I was slightly dubious about that latter -- possibly as a result of previous investigations -- but I decided to chance it.  Alas, it is not listed.

The sevens are ACINOSE ("consisting of acini", which are (in one definition) the small parts of a compound fruit like a blackberry or mulberry) and SYCONIA (plural of SYCONIUM: "a multiple fruit developed from a hollow fleshy receptacle containing numerous flowers, as in the fig").  But the eight in this mix is HYOSCINE (a trademarked name for scopolamine).

My selection: [invalid -- CYANOSE]
Best: HYOSCINE


Round 2: M P U I K T U W R

Oh, dear, what a mix.  I had TRIM and -- eventually! -- TRUMP.

Five is the best to be done; the only other one is TWIRP, a variant spelling of TWERP.

My selection: TRUMP


Round 3: Target 981 from 75 100 25 6 10 2

The standard method applies easily, and getting to the nearby 1000 is straightforward.  The resulting solution was 981 = 10*100 - 25 + 6.

My selection: 981 = 10*100 - 25 + 6


Round 4: D P E E L B E C U

I had DEEP, BLEED, and PEELED.  I was also amused to see DEEP BLUE there, not that it was useful in this instance.

There were sevens here, however, and I should have seen BLEEPED.  The others are DECUPLE ("tenfold") / CUPELED (American spelling of CUPELLED; CUPEL as a verb is "to heat or refine in a cupel", while as a noun it is "a receptacle or furnace bottom in which silver is refined").

My selection: PEELED
Best: BLEEPED


Round 5: I E I M R D T O S

I had RIME, MIRED, STORED, STEROID, STORMED, and MOISTER.  I saw the obviously invalid METROIDS, too, but could not find the valid anagram of it.  After time I noted EDITORS as another seven.

The eight in the mix which I might have found -- but it is a word I struggle to see, even though it comes up often enough -- is MORTISED.  The other eight is DIORITES (DIORITE being a type of rock).

My selection: STEROID
Best: MORTISED


Round 6: Target 965 from 100 50 1 5 7 7

A large target looked like it might be troublesome, and my first instinct was that the nearest easy multiple of 25 was 7*150 = 1050.  The difference was 85, which is 84 + 1, and 84 is 7*12.  It all worked out rather helpfully to give me the solution 965 = 7*(100 + 50 - 7 - 5) - 1.  Then I considered trying to make the target as 1000 - 7*5 (possibly with tweaking involved).  The 1000 could be made as 7*100 + 6*50, and the tweak finished it off: 965 = 7*(100 - 5) + (7 - 1)*50.

My selection: 965 = 7*(100 + 50 - 7 - 5) - 1


Round 7: O I E T D R R A B

I had DIET, TARRIED, ABORTED, BROADER, and saw but knew to reject ADROITER.  After time I noted some of the other sevens I had seen within time: BORATED (which Tim Clay played against me in one round in episode 326), ARBITER / RAREBIT, and DEBITOR.

Seven is the limit here, with quite a few others available.  They are ORBITED / DEORBIT, ORBITER, TRIBADE, BOARDER, TARDIER, BRAIDER, BROIDER (an archaic variation of EMBROIDER), TABORED (TABOR: "to play upon, or as upon, a tabor; drum"), and TABORER.

My selection: TARRIED


Round 8: Target 889 from 25 50 1 9 8 7

I was in all kinds of trouble with this mix.  I saw that it was 875 + 2*7, but neither part of that seemed particularly approachable.  I wrote down a fallback three off 892 = (9 + 8)*50 + 1) + 25, and was only able to improve it to two off with 887 = (9 + 7)*(50 + 8 - 1) - 25.

After time I realised an option I was missing, and got to one off with 890 = (25 - 7)*50 - 9 - 1.  Then I finally noticed the factor of 7, which I should have observed immediately from my earlier observation about the target being 875 + 2*7.  Oh, well.  The cofactor is 127, and I was rather pleased to find a way to make that work with 889 = (8*(25 - 9) - 1)*7.  This turns out to be the only solution.

My selection: 887 = (9 + 7)*(50 + 8 - 1) - 25  [2 off]
Best: 889 = (8*(25 - 9) - 1)*7


Round 9: SIXTY TEEN

I got distracted by various things here, but eventually concentrating on the EX- and -ITY fragments got me to the answer of EXTENSITY.

My selection: EXTENSITY (22.8s)

7 comments:

Mike Backhouse said...

This was a game where I had several doubtful words that I thought I would brave over the safer options. Here goes:

CINCHES over CHAINS
TRUMP
(6*2)*75+100+10-75=985 and after time 10*(100-2)=980 (1 off)
BLEEPED over PEELED
SORTIED over SORTED
x-out of range and after time 5*(100+50+((7-1)*7)=960 (5 off)
TARRIED
(9+1)*(25+50+8+7)=890 (1 off)
x- made up word of EXISTENTY

Sam Gaffney said...

1. CANOES. I think you've snuck a second "C" in there, Mike.
2. TRUMP
3. 981 = 10*100 - 25 + 6
4. BLEEPED
5. MORTISED
6. 965 = (100-5)*7 + (7-1)*50
7. TRIBADE
8. 889 = ((25-9)*8-1)*7
9. EXTENSITY - 25.2s. Unfamiliar with this, usually X-words are easier.

Mike Backhouse said...

You're right about the C Sam. And well done on getting that conundrum. I've never heard of it either. Fantastic on the numbers too!

Unknown said...

1. chains
2. imput
3. (10x100)-6x(75/25)=982 (1 off)
4. beeped (missed the bleeped!)
5. stormed
6. 5x(50+1) +(7x100)+7=962 (3 off)
7. aborted
8. [(25-7)x(50-1)]+8=890 (1 off)
9. x (thought about extensity but didn't think it was a word...)

Thanks for the number solutions - kicked myself over Round 3!

Victor said...

Great numbers work from Sam

1. CASINO
2. TRUMP
3. 981 = 10*100 - 25 + 6
4. PEELED
5. MORTISED
6. 1-away: 964 = 7*(100 + 1) + 5*50 + 7
7. ORBITED
8. 1-away: 890 = (25 - 7)*50 - 9 - 1
9. EXTENSITY - 15.2s - agreed, obscure word

Sam Gaffney said...

Cheers on the numbers, folks, I was very happy with them. Rounds 6 & 8 both used common offsets of 7 from multiples of 25, I suppose that was my angle in.

Geoff Bailey said...

Nice work to find BLEEPED, Mike -- it eluded me completely.

Likewise well done, Sam, and also on MORTISED. Excellent numberwork today, too.

Louise: There's no IMPUT in my dictionary; were you thinking of IMPUTE or INPUT, perhaps? Nice work to get to just one away in round 8, also -- it was a tough one.