NG 578

New game 578 is now available.

The re-run is episode 306; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: N I A D G O R D P

I had DING, GONAD, ADORING, DRAPING, and PRODDING.

PRODDING is the only eight.  The other sevens are PADDING, ANDROID, PONIARD / PADRONI (plural of PADRONE: "a master, as of a vessel"), PODDING, and PORANGI (a New Zealand colloquialism: "mad; crazy").

My selection: PRODDING


Round 2: C A E A T R S M I

I had CRATE, CRATES, and CAMERAS.  I wanted a final E for MACERATES, but the I threw me somewhat.  Immediately after time I saw the pair of MATRICES / CERAMIST for eight.

Those are the only eights, but there is a nine: the mineral MARCASITE.  The other sevens are METRICS, RACIEST / STEARIC ("of or relating to suet or fat"), TARMACS, SMARTIE / MAESTRI (plural of MAESTRO) / IMARETS (IMARET: "(in Turkey) a hospice for pilgrims, etc."), AMRITAS (AMRITA: "Hindu Mythology the ambrosial drink of immortality"), ASTERIA ("a precious stone which shows asterism when cabochon-cut, as the star-sapphire") / ARISTAE (plural of ARISTA: "Botany a bristle-like appendage of grain, etc.") / ATRESIA ("Medicine the congenital absence or excessive narrowing of a duct or canal"), and SEMATIC ("serving as a sign or warning of danger, as the conspicuous colours or markings of certain poisonous animals") / ACMITES (ACMITE being a mineral, otherwise known as AEGERITE).

My selection: CAMERAS
Best: MARCASITE


Round 3: Target 271 from 50 75 6 2 1 4

I started unhelpfully by working down from 300, getting to one off with 270 = 6*(50 - 4 - 1).  Then I realised that the standard method was clearly better, and tweaked my way to a solution of 271 = 4*(50 - 1) + 75.

My selection: 271 = 4*(50 - 1) + 75


Round 4: T N O I E I L S N

I had INTO, SILENT, TENSION, and INSOLENT.

The other eights are LENITION ("a weakening of the articulation of a consonant, often leading, in the historical development of a language, to radical sound changes and even to loss of the sound") and NOILIEST* (NOILY being the adjective derived from NOIL: "a short fibre of wool or silk separated from the long fibres by combing").  And, of course, LENITION is pluralisable, giving LENITIONS for the second full monty in a row.

The other sevens here are LIONISE, TINNIES, INTONES, ELISION, OILIEST, LINIEST, LINNETS (LINNET being a type of bird), IOLITES (IOLITE being another name for the mineral CORDIERITE), and -- an abuse of my revised rules, but they do apply -- ONLIEST.

My selection: INSOLENT
Best: LENITIONS


Round 5: S A O R D H E I S

I had SOAR, ROADS, HOARDS, and RADISHES.

The other eight is AIRSHEDS (AIRSHED: "a volume of air confined to a distinct geographic region, and within which pollutants are contained").  The other sevens are AIRSHED / SHADIER / HARDIES (HARDY: "a chisel or fuller with a square shank for insertion into a square hole (hardy-hole) in a blacksmith's anvil") / DASHIER*, DOSSIER, DASHERS, HAIRDOS, ROADIES, and HOSIERS.

My selection: RADISHES


Round 6: Target 500 from 50 100 7 10 1 2

Disappointingly trivial: 500 = 10*50

My selection: 500 = 10*50


Round 7: M V A T R E S C E

I had TRAM, STREAM, CREATES, and flailed around before settling on CREAMEST.  Saved by the single-syllable rule for adjectives.

The less controversial eight is CREMATES, and I wish I had not missed it.  Some sources would allow the spelling MEERCATS, but the Macquarie does not.  The other sevens are CREMATE, STEAMER, CERATES (CERATE: "an unctuous (often medicated) preparation for external application [...]") / ÉCARTÉS (ÉCARTÉ: "Ballet a position in which one arm and the leg from the same side of the body are extended"), AMERCES (AMERCE: "to punish by inflicting a discretionary penalty of any kind") / RACEMES, and CERMETS (CERMET: "a substance consisting of a sintered metal compacted with a ceramic material [...]").

My selection: CREAMEST


Round 8: Target 700 from 100 75 7 6 9 6

Oh, dear.  Two boring numbers rounds, what a shame.

My selection: 700 = 7*100


Round 9: FORT RAVED

When a V is around, I look for OVER or -IVE, and the former was the useful one here.  The rest quickly sorted themselves out, giving me the answer of OVERDRAFT.

My selection: OVERDRAFT (1.5s)