NG 321

New game 321 is now available.


Round 1: A Y R R N C I I O

I had NARY, CARRY, CAIRN, IRONIC, and CARRION.

CARRION is the only seven (CARRY-ON is listed, but requires the hyphen).  The other sixes are CRAYON and RANCOR.

My selection: CARRION


Round 2: P E N D T D O E E

I had PEND, NOTED, DEPEND, and DENOTED.

The other sevens are PENTODE ("a radio valve containing five electrodes") and DEPONED (DEPONE: "to give testimony").

My selection: DENOTED


Round 3: Target 456 from 100 6 5 7 3 2

The offset from 500 is 44, and I started by tweaking to get close and adjusting to the solution of 456 = 5*(100 - 7) - 6 - 3.  Then I noted the untweaked version of 456 = 5*100 - 7*6 - 2, and finally looked at the factorisation 6*76 which is also 12*38.  I saw that I could do that with small numbers alone, and settled happily on that final solution: 456 = (5*7 + 3)*2*6.

My selection: 456 = (5*7 + 3)*2*6


Round 4: O R A H L M O N M

I had HOAR, HALO, MORAL, MAROON, and HORMONAL.

HORMONAL is the only eight, and there do not appear to be any sevens.  The other sixes are NORMAL, MOOLAH, and ROMANO (a type of cheese).

My selection: HORMONAL


Round 5: N D H G E E I U T

I had HEDGE, wondered about HENGED (not valid), and HEEDING.

Seven is the best to be done; the others are HEIGHED, HINDGUT, and DETINUE ("an old common-law form of action to recover possession or the value of articles of personal property wrongfully detained").

My selection: HEEDING


Round 6: Target 259 from 25 50 8 6 4 2

I recognised the target as 7*37, but with only one odd number in the mix that approach was always going to be too difficult.  It seemed clear that the target should be made as either 284 - 25 or 234 + 25; I started with the former to get the solution 259 = 6*50 - 8*4/2 - 25.  (Of course, 8*2 is simpler than 8*4/2 for the same result, but that's the way I wrote it down.)  Then I got the other approach to work with 259 = 4*(50 + 8) + 2 + 25.

My selection: 259 = 6*50 - 8*4/2 - 25


Round 7: S A O S C A U L K

I had SACS, CLASS, CAULKS, and SLACKS.  A final I instead of that K would have been nice to give SALACIOUS; no such luck, alas.

There is a seven in the mix, though: CASUALS.

My selection: CAULKS
Best: CASUALS


Round 8: Target 475 from 100 75 50 10 9 9

Before the target went up this looked like it would be difficult, with the small numbers offering very little leeway.  Fortunately the target was divisible by 25 and it was all rather easy instead.  I went with 475 = 9*50 + 100 - 75 and then 475 = 10*50 - 100 + 75.

My selection: 475 = 9*50 + 100 - 75


Round 9: CELEB TAXI

The fragments EX- and -ABLE were very tempting, and there was little work left to do to get EXCITABLE from that.

My selection: EXCITABLE (1.7s)