Thursday 30 January 2014

NG 309

New game 309 is now available.


Round 1: N N C E A H B S O

I had CANE, BEACH, BENCH, and CANOES / OCEANS.  After time I noted some other semi-dubious sixes of BONCES (not valid), NONCES (of arguable validity), and BACONS.  That last led me to find the seven of BEACONS; it's a combination that turns up moderately often (along with DEACONS) but I generally struggle to see it.

The other sevens are SONANCE ("the condition or quality of being sonant", which is to say of having sound") / ANCONES (plural of ANCON: "any projection, as a console, supporting a cornice or the like"), CHANSON ("a song, especially a French song"), and NONCHES (NONCH as a noun: "Prison Colloquial a method of shop-lifting in which the goods stolen are concealed in a coat or jacket not worn but nonchalantly draped over one shoulder, ostensibly because of the heat"; there is an associated verb sense of stealing in this way, whence NONCHES).

My selection: CANOES
Best: BEACONS


Round 2: T U C T U O C R R

I had hoped for a final E to redeem this mix with COUTURE, but it was not to be.  (Nor was the next vowel an E, for that matter.)  I had TOUT and TROUT, considering but correctly rejecting OUTCUT (not valid) / CUTOUT (only listed as CUT-OUT with the hyphen).  After time I noted TUTOR and COURT as other fives.

Five is the best to be done; the others are OCCUR and CRUOR (an obsolete term for "coagulated blood, or that portion of the blood which forms the clot").

My selection: TROUT


Round 3: Target 442 from 25 4 10 1 3 9

The standard method would suggest making this as 18*25 - 8.  That wasn't the easiest of combinations, but I noted it could also be written as 2*(9*25 - 4), which is much more approachable from those numbers.  The resulting solution was 442 = (3 - 1)*(9*25 - 4).  Then I realised that this implied the factorisation 2*221, and I happen to know offhand that 221 is 13*17.  That led me to two other solutions: 221 = (10 + 4 + 3)*(25 + 1) and 221 = (10 + 3)*(25 + 4).

My selection: 442 = (10 + 3)*(25 + 9)


Round 4: L I E S I P N A F

I had ISLE (just to be different), PILES, SPINEL (a mineral), PLANES, LIAISE, and SPANIEL.

There are two eights here: FINALISE and LIFESPAN (the main entry is given as two words, but the one-word form is listed as an acceptable variation).  The other sevens are FINALES, FINIALS (FINIAL: "the ornamental termination of a pinnacle, gable, etc., usually foliated"), and SPLENII (plural of SPLENIUS, a muscle of the back and neck).

My selection: SPANIEL
Best: LIFESPAN


Round 5: O R K G N A D I O

I had dubious GROK (not valid) and KONG (also not valid), ROAN, ORGAN, DRAGON, and ADORING.  After time I checked up on GORDIAN, but as expected it requires the capital letter.

The other sevens are DRAGOON / GADROON (yet another architectural term to go with ANCONES and FINIALS, a GADROON is "an elaborately carved or indented convex moulding"), ROOKING (ROOK as a verb: "to cheat; fleece; swindle"), and DARKING (DARK as a verb being given as an obsolete synonym for DARKEN).

But there is an eight lurking in this mix: RIGADOON ("a lively dance, formerly popular, for one couple, characterised by a peculiar jumping step, and usually in quick duple rhythm").  I recall David finding RIGADOONS once (and Lily matched him with GRANDIOSO, but it does not seem to be in the episodes that I have covered.  That suggests it was in season three, most likely.

My selection: ADORING
Best: RIGADOON


Round 6: Target 547 from 100 25 75 10 7 8

My first want was to put the 10 and 7 aside to make a 3, and use the other four numbers to get to 550.  I was not able to achieve that, however, and had to switch tacks.  The target is near 7*75, so that's a plausible starting point; that sufficed for one off with 548 = 7*75 + 25 - (10 - 8).  Then I thought about the offset of 22 a bit more and found a solution: 547 = 7*75 + 8*100/25 - 10.

Perhaps more obvious was the following variation of that last approach: 547 = 7*75 + 8 + 100/25 + 10.

My selection: 547 = 7*75 + 8*100/25 - 10


Round 7: E T Z S D E B O R

I had ZEST, STEED, wondered about ZESTED (valid), BESTED, ZEROES, RODEOS, DESERT, BERETS, and amused myself with the idea of BOREDEST.  I rejected that, but thinking about it now it clearly satisfies the single syllable rule and should have been accepted on the show.  Oh, well.  After time I finally saw a seven of OERSTED (a unit of magnetic field strength), and checked up on SORBETED but it was not valid.

There is an eight here: BESTRODE.  The other sevens are DEBTORS, BEDSORE / SOBERED, TEREDOS (TEREDO: "a shipworm (genus Teredo)"), and BORTZES (BORTZ being a variant form of BORT: "flawed, low quality diamonds, and diamond fragments, valuable only for crushing to diamond dust").

My selection: ZEROES
Best: BESTRODE


Round 8: Target 313 from 100 75 10 1 2 6

Getting close with 3*100 seemed desirable, and a 3 could be had as either 2 + 1 or 6/2.  The latter lent itself handily to tweaking, and I had the solution 313 = (6/2)*(100 + 1) + 10.

My selection: 313 = (6/2)*(100 + 1) + 10


Round 9: MISSES IMP

Lots of duplication, but considering the -ISM fragment helps get one to the answer of PESSIMISM.

My selection: PESSIMISM (2.1s)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

1. beach
2. court
3. out of time with (10+4+3)x(25+1)=442
4. planes, and again out of time with finalise
5. a risky 'dooring' as when cycling
6. (7x75)+100/25+8+10=547
7. strobed
8. 6/2x(100+1)+10=313

Some hard letters tonight...

Unknown said...

oops, forgot
9. pessimism (3.2s) didn't want to leave it off - optimistic, my best time so far!

Mike Backhouse said...

CHOSEN
TROUT
4*(25*(3+1)+10)=440 (2 off)
SPINE (my daughter looking over my shoulder got LIFESPAN but when I looked it up it had a hyphen...still well spotted)
DRINK
7*75+25-(10-8)=548 (1 off)
STORED
x- error
x - well done on the conundrum Louise as well as the numbers.

Geoff Bailey said...

Congratulations on the fast conundrum solution, Louise! And also that find of FINALISE, which is excellent. I'm afraid that STROBE is only listed as a noun, however, and there is no verb sense of DOOR.

Mike: The fifth edition of the Macquarie lists LIFE SPAN as two words, but allows LIFESPAN as an alternative form. (No sign of a hyphen.) So congratulations to your daughter on an excellent find!