NG 268

New game 268 is now available.


Round 1: E N R E C A L B D

I had CRANE, wondered about CABLER (I recalled it coming up before -- it turns out to be in NG 81 -- but could not recall the outcome; it turns out not to be valid), DEBACLE, correctly rejected RENDABLE, CLEARED, and wrote down a highly dubious CALENDER (thinking it might possibly be a variant spelling of CALENDAR).  In the end CALENDER was too dubious for me, and I stayed with DEBACLE.  After time I noted down a couple of other sevens of CLEANED and CLEANER.

As it turns out, CALENDER is valid, although not with the meaning I was guessing at.  Instead it is "a machine in which cloth, paper, or the like is smoothed, glazed, etc., by pressing between revolving cylinders".  This appears to be the only eight.

The other sevens are BLANDER, BLENDER, DECLARE / CREEDAL (adjective derived from CREED), ENABLED, LEARNED, BLEARED (BLEAR: "to make (the eyes or sight) dim, as with tears or inflammation"), and ENLACED.

My selection: DEBACLE
Best: CALENDER


Round 2: F I T U H O H O S

I had FOOT, wondered about OUTFISH, FOOTS, HOIST, FOIST, and THOUS.  I decided to chance OUTFISH, and that was not the right decision.

Indeed, five seems to be the limit here; the others are SHIFT, SHOUT / SOUTH, HOOFS, SHOOT / HOOTS / SOOTH, and TOFUS.

My selection: [invalid -- OUTFISH]
Best: SHIFT


Round 3: Target 502 from 50 25 2 1 8 9

An easy application of the standard method -- keep the 2 aside, and get to 500 then add: 502 = (9 + 1)*50 + 2.

My selection: 502 = (9 + 1)*50 + 2


Round 4: E S A I C N A D R

I had CASE, CASEIN ("the major group of proteins in milk [...]"), CANDIES, CANARIES, RADIANCE, and RADIANCES.  I went for the full monty but expected it to be a grey area as to whether it would be acceptable.  The question of whether RADIANCE is a mass noun is not completely straightforward, in part as it is listed as a synonym for RADIATION which describes the act as well as the result.  I have sympathies for each side of the debate (and I note that RADIANCES would not be legal in Countdown).  I've decided there's enough wiggle room here to declare RADIANCES valid.

The other eight here is CESARIAN.

My selection: RADIANCES


Round 5: A X O M K A E R B

I had MAKE, MAKER, BREAK, AMBER, BORAX, and AMOEBA.  After time I saw the option of BOXMAKER, which was tempting enough that I'd have probably tried it if I had seen it within time.  It is not valid, however, so my slowness paid off.

The other six on offer here is EMBARK.

My selection: AMOEBA


Round 6: Target 295 from 75 6 10 4 1 8

Another clear-cut application of the standard method: 295 = 4*75 - (6 - 1).

My selection: 295 = 4*75 - (6 - 1)


Round 7: M E N S M F A S A

That duplication does make things difficult; I had FENS, NAMES, rightly rejected SEAMSMAN (thinking perhaps it might be a male seamstress, or a seam bowler in cricket), and MANSES (MANSE: "(originally) the dwelling of a landholder, with the land attached").

The other six is SEAMAN.

My selection: MANSES


Round 8: Target 242 from 50 4 4 7 8 9

I wanted to use the factorisation 11*22 = 2*11*11, but could not see how to make it work.  (Seen just now: 242 = (50 + 8 - 9*4)*(7 + 4).)  Fortunately I considered the standard method again and realised that the offset of 8 was already present; the rest was straightforward: 242 = (9 - 4)*50 - 8.

My selection: 242 = (9 - 4)*50 - 8


Round 9: CREAM PEAK

I selected this conundrum after being presented with a similar unusable one.

My selection: [N/A -- conundrum chosen explicitly]
Best: PACEMAKER