Thursday 19 December 2013

NG 284

New game 284 is now available.


Round 1: N L U I S S I M I


I had SINS and SINUS -- not a very promising start!  After time I noted down SLIMS and MINUS as two other fives that I had seen, but could not find longer.

The six here is MUSLIN, and that leads to the seven of MUSLINS.

My selection: SINUS
Best: MUSLINS


Round 2: W A O C E S A G L

I had CASE, CAGES, and SOLACE.  I amused myself with treating CASE LAW as one word, and with COALAGE and COALAGES, but they were never plausible enough to try.  (CASE LAW does get a mention, mind you, but only as two words.)

The seven here is COWAGES (COWAGE being a plant).  The other sixes are COWAGE, SAWLOG ("a log large enough to saw into boards"), and CALESA ("a type of horse-drawn carriage [...]").

My selection: SOLACE
Best: COWAGES


Round 3: Target 297 from 50 75 5 9 8 6

An easy enough application of the standard method: 297 = 6*50 - (8 - 5).  I was tempted by the factorisation 9*33 but could not get it to work within time (although just now I have seen 297 = 9*(75 - 50 + 8)).

My selection: 297 = 6*50 - (8 - 5)


Round 4: F E R T T H S A E

I had FRET, FRETS, FASTER, FATHERS, and FEATHERS.  A "Dutch oven" might be a SHEETFART, but it's not enough to render that term plausible.

The other eights are FARTHEST and THEATRES / THEATERS.  There are a good many sevens, more than I feel like listing.

My selection: FEATHERS


Round 5: B I R D C D B E U

I had BIRD, CRIB, and CRIBBED.  I wondered about BUDDIER but was not surprised that it was not valid (I'll note that BUDDY is listed with a verb sense, though, so a third D would have made BUDDIED an option).

The other seven is DRUBBED.

My selection: CRIBBED


Round 6: Target 714 from 50 100 10 5 3 5

I got hung up on some unhelpful options, although they did suffice for a fallback one-off 715 = 5*(100 + 50 - 5) - 10.  Then I realised the factorisation 7*102; I was about to skip past it when I realised that a 7 could be made as 10 - 3, and then that I could also make the required 2.  The resulting solution was 714 = (100 + 50/(5*5))*(10 - 3).

That is essentially the only solution (there is another formed by swapping 50/5 and 10).

My selection: 714 = (100 + 50/(5*5))*(10 - 3)


Round 7: R G C N E I C P E

I had REIGN, CRINGE, wondered about RECCEING (it turns out to be acceptable, with RECCE being colloquial for RECONNOITRE), CREEPING, GENERIC, and CREPING (CREPE as a verb: "to cover, cloth, or drape with crepe").

CREEPING and RECCEING are the only eights; the other seven is PEERING.

My selection: CREEPING


Round 8: Target 587 from 50 3 4 4 1 5

The standard method suggests making this as 12*50 - 13, and although that was not directly applicable a tweak turned the 13 into 12 + 1 for a solution: 587 = 3*4*(50 - 1) - (5 - 4).  Then I looked at another method of making the 13 and found the alternative 87 = 4*(3*50 - 1) - 4 - 5.

Seen just now is a shorter option than both: 587 = 3*(4*50 - 4) - 1.

My selection: 587 = 3*4*(50 - 1) - (5 - 4)


Round 9: INNER MUTT

I chose this conundrum explicitly after misguessing it as the answer for what turned out to be INUREMENT.  It seemed to me that NUTRIMENT was the more common word, although I may have been wrong about this.

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

7 comments:

Mike Backhouse said...

MINIS
GOALS
6*50-(8-5)=297
FATHERS
CRIBBED
5*(100+50+3-10)=215 (1 off)
CREEPING
4*3*(50-1)-(5-4)=587
x- thought this would be obvious but couldn't get it. Looked it up eventually, and wouldn't have got it anyway. Only aware of the word without the M!

Unknown said...

1. slums
2. glows
3. same as Mike
4. feathers
5. cribbed
6. 5x(100+50-10) +(5x3)=715 (1 off)
7. piercing
8. same as Mike
9. x ...I agree Mike, thought this would be easy but couldn't get it....

Mike Backhouse said...

Typo at 6, should have been 715 not 215!

And Louise, I should have seen that extra E for FEATHERS! By the way, you play a mean game of L&N and it's great you found this site!

Sam Gaffney said...

Louise does play a mean game.

1. SLUMS
2. x GLACES
3. 297 = 6*50 - 8 + 5
4. FEATHERS
5. CRIBBED
6. 714 = (100 + 50/5/5)*(10-3), though may have been late.
7. CREEPING
8. 587 = (50-1)*3*4 - 5 + 4
9. 77.8s - NUTRIMENT

Unknown said...

Yeah Mike, fathers to feathers is a kick-yourself moment isn't it. I had a phantom 'i' in Round 7. And Sam, very elegant solution to Round 6's 714.

Geoff Bailey said...

Bad luck on GLACES, Sam -- I thought it might have been listed, but no joy.

Victor said...

1. MINUS
2. CLAWS
3. 297 = 6*50 - 8 + 5
4. FEATHERS
5. DUBBED (missed DRUBBED)
6. 1-away: 715 = 5*(100 + 50 - 10 + 3)
7. CREEPING
8. 587 = 3*(4*50 - 4) - 1
9. -