NG 331

New game 331 is now available.


Round 1: C N C G I A P U D

I had ACING and PACING, briefly contemplating CAPUCIN but realising that I needed an H in it (CAPUCHIN).  After time I noted DUPING as another six.

The other six is UNPAID.

My selection: PACING


Round 2: I C N M S H O I D

I had CHINS, COINS / ICONS, and HOMINIDS (HOMINID: "a member of the Hominidae, a family comprising all of the great apes").  After time I noted DISCO as another five, but could not find a six or seven.

The only seven is HOMINID; the sixes are IDIOMS / IODISM ("a morbid condition due to the use of iodine or its compounds"), CHINOS, MODISH ("in accordance with the prevailing mode; fashionable; stylish"), and IODINS (IODIN being a variant form of IODINE).

My selection: HOMINIDS


Round 3: Target 252 from 25 75 4 5 6 9

The target is a familiar one (slightly more so when multiplied by 10, as 2520 is the lowest common multiple of the numbers 1 to 10), hence has many small factors.  My first thought was 6*42 but I somehow overlooked 252 = 6*(75 - 25 - 9 + 5 - 4); I moved on to 4*63 and 4*9*7 without success, before finally finding a solution as 9*28 via 252 = 9*(25 + 5 + 4 - 6).  After time I found a way to get 6*42 at last: 252 = (9*5 - 75/25)*6.

My selection: 252 = 9*(25 + 5 + 4 - 6)


Round 4: R F M T D A U A C

I had FARM and TRAUMA.  After time I noted DATURA (a type of plant) as another six.  Oh, for an E!  I'd noted the potential for FERMATA this time.

The other sixes are TARMAC and MARAUD.

My selection: TRAUMA


Round 5: I T A R A U S S N

Still no E's!  I had TIARA, TIARAS, NUTRIAS (NUTRIA being another name for the COYPU), lamented that AUSTRIANS must be capitalised, noted that changing one A into a T would allow NATURISTS, and settled upon ARTISANS for eight.

The other eights are TSARINAS and SAURIANS.  The other sevens are TSARINA / ARTISAN / ANTIARS (ANTIAR being a type of tree otherwise known as UPAS), SAURIAN / ANURIAS (ANURIA: "the absence or suppression of urine"), STRAINS / SANTIRS (SANTIR being a variant form of SANTOOR: "an Arab musical instrument similar to a dulcimer") / INSTARS (INSTAR: "an insect in any one of its periods of post-embryonic growth between moults"), SUSTAIN / ISSUANT ("Heraldry having only the upper half seen"), AURISTS, and TARSIAS (TARSIA: "inlay or marquetry in wood").

My selection: ARTISANS


Round 6: Target 918 from 75 9 6 1 2 8

The target is 9*102, but using that directly is a little awkward.  Still, getting close with 12*75 is straightforward, and a quick tweak sorted out the rest: 918 = 2*(6*75 + 9).  (Seen later was that the tweak was unnecessary: 918 = 2*6*12 + 9 + 8 + 1.)  Afte time I managed to get the original idea to work after all with 918 = (9*6/2 + 75)*(8 + 1).

My selection: 918 = 2*(6*75 + 9)


Round 7: E S D R B E I O A

Finally the E makes an appearance!  I had REDS, BREEDS, and that final A brought relief with the pair of BOARDIES / BROADIES (as first noted in this blog for episode 312).  I further added ABIDERS, although I was not sure about it (it is valid).

BOARDIES / BROADIES look like the only eights.  The other sevens are BEDSORE / SOBERED, ROADIES, SIDEBAR / BRAISED / SEABIRD / DARBIES ("Prison Colloquial handcuffs"), SABERED, DERBIES, READIES / DEARIES, BEADIER, DEBASER, DISROBE / BORIDES, AEROBES (AEROBE: "a bacterium or other microorganism whose existence requires, or is not destroyed by, the absence of free oxygen"), and ISOBARE ("Physics, Chemistry one of two or more atoms of different atomic number, but having the same atomic mass number").

My selection: BOARDIES


Round 8: Target 839 from 50 25 75 8 6 1

Three large is often tricky, and this was one of those cases.  I wrote down a fallback one off 840 = 8*(75 + 25 + 6 - 1), and kept searching.  I struck paydirt when I considered subtracting 6 or 8 from 25 -- quite a useful option to keep in mind with three large numbers -- and saw that I could make the required offset of 11 also: 839 = (25 - 8)*(50 - 1) + 6.

This turns out to be the only solution.

My selection: 839 = (25 - 8)*(50 - 1) + 6


Round 9: MOUSY LION

The -OUS and -LY fragments are very tempting, and after pulling them out there was not much work left to do to find OMINOUSLY.

My selection: OMINOUSLY (2.2s)