NG 310

New game 310 is now available.


Round 1: D J O E R S E T O

I had RODE, REEDS, OERSTED (a unit of magnetic field strength) / TEREDOS (TEREDO being a genus of shipworm), and ROOSTED.

Those appear to be all the sevens listed, and the best to be done.

My selection: OERSTED


Round 2: R B O I I O S D R

I had BIRO, BIROS, and BROODS.  A final U would have redeemed this mix, allowing BOUDOIRS, but no such luck.

Six is the best to be done; the others are DOBROS (DOBRO: "a type of slide guitar which produces a distinctive metallic sound from a resonating metal faceplate") and ORIBIS (ORIBI being a type of antelope).

My selection: BROODS


Round 3: Target 639 from 25 75 100 3 7 5

The target is 9*71, and that is tempting.  A little fiddling with the options produced a solution of that form: 639 = (5 + 4)*(75 - 4), where the two 4's are 100/25 and 7 - 3 in some order.  (As it turns out, I had gone with 639 = (5 + 100/25)*(75 - (7 - 3)) and not realised until after time that I had used 4 as a subpart twice.)  Then I considered that the target was 625 + 2*7 and found a few answers using that observation: 639 = 7*(75 + 5 - 3) + 100, 639 = 7*(100 + 5 - 3) - 75, and 639 = 25*(100 - 75) + 7*(5 - 3).

My selection: 639 = (5 + 100/25)*(75 - (7 - 3))


Round 4: C F M O A I U T S

I had COMA, ATOMIC, COATIS, ATOMICS, and FACTIOUS ("acting only in the interests of a group or faction").

FACTIOUS appears to be the only eight.  The other sevens are COMFITS (COMFIT being an obsolete term for "a sugar-coated sweet"), SOMATIC ("of the body; bodily; physical"), and SFUMATO ("the transition in a work of art of tone or colour from light to dark by imperceptible stages").

My selection: FACTIOUS


Round 5: N I G L S A K A M

I had LING (the name for several different types of fish, and also for the common heather), SLING, ALIGNS, SLAKING, wondered about SALAMING (thinking that SALAM might have been a variant spelling of SALAAM: "to perform a salaam", which as a noun is "(a greeting exchanged between Muslims)"), MAKINGS / MASKING, and MALIGNS.  I thought SALAMING unlikely, so I stayed with seven.

It turns out that SALAM is given as a variant spelling of SALAAM exactly as I had considered, and SALAMING is the only eight.  The other sevens are ANIMALS / MANILAS (MANILA as a noun being acceptable as a short form of either MANILA PAPER or MANILA HEMP, apparently) / LAMINAS (one plural form of LAMINA: "a thin plate, scale, or layer"), LINGAMS (LINGAM: "(in popular Hindu mythology) a phallus, symbol of Shiva"), AGNAILS (AGNAIL being a variant form of HANGNAIL), KALMIAS (KALMIA being a type of plant), KALIANS (KALIAN: "an Eastern pipe in which the smoke is drawn through water; hookah"), and SIAMANG (a type of gibbon).

My selection: MALIGNS
Best: SALAMING


Round 6: Target 342 from 50 25 3 4 7 4

I noticed the factorisation 9*38 to start with, and spent far longer than I should have trying unsuccessfully to get that to work.  Then I looked at the standard method and easily found 342 = 7*50 - 4 - 4.  Returning to the factorisation, I realised that it could be reorganised to 18*19 and was able to get a solution from that form: 342 = (4*4 + 3)*(25 - 7).

My selection: 342 = (4*4 + 3)*(25 - 7)


Round 7: C E N T A E R O W

I had CENT, ENATE ("relating to that which grows outwards"), NECTAR / TRANCE, and CORNET.  There were a few other sixes that I did not write down, but after time I saw ENACTOR at last as a seven.

There is an eight in the mix: CAROTENE.  The other sevens are ACETONE, CRENATE ("having the margin notched or scalloped so as to form rounded teeth, as a leaf"), and OCREATE ("having an ocrea or ocreae; sheathed", where an OCREA is "a sheathing part [...]")..

My selection: NECTAR
Best: CAROTENE


Round 8: Target 924 from 100 10 5 4 1 9

Reasonably straightforward, or so it felt; after getting to 900 the subtask of making 24 didn't even need a tweak (although one could have been used): 924 = 9*100 + (5 + 1)*4.

My selection: 924 = 9*100 + (5 + 1)*4


Round 9: DESIRE IMP

A tough conundrum, I think; certainly I was not anywhere close to solving it (although I did give up early).  I could not resist choosing those two words for it given the form of yesterday's conundrum.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: EPIDERMIS