NG 585

New game 585 is now available.

The re-run is episode 313; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: E S S O G R I B A

I had GOES, GESSO, GROSS, GORSES, BOSSIER, BORAGES, and GASSIER.

There are some eights from this mix: ARGOSIES (plural of ARGOSY: "a large merchant ship, especially one with a rich cargo")), BIOGASES, and ISOBARES (ISOBARE: "one of two or more atoms of different atomic number, but having the same atomic mass number").

The other sevens are ISOBARE, ISOBARS, BRAISES / BRASSIE (a type of golf club), and RIBOSES (RIBOSE: "a pentose sugar [...]").

My selection: BOSSIER
Best: BIOGASES


Round 2: N T E F D A R H I

I had TEND, FATED, HATRED, HAIRNET, HANDIER, rightly rejected FIREHAND (although part of me likes to imagine that a FIREHAND would be connected to a FIREARM), FAINTER, and TRAINED.  After time I noted other sevens of FAINTED / DEFIANT and DETRAIN.

That's all the sevens listed.  There are no eights, but there is a nine!  It is THREADFIN, a type of fish.

My selection: HAIRNET
Best: THREADFIN


Round 3: Target 564 from 50 25 7 1 4 3

Working up from 7*75 does not quite work (it will get to 1 off, as it turns out, with 563 = 7*(50 + 25 + 4 + 1) + 3), so I switched tacks to look at 11*50 as a starting point.  The offset of 14 is 11 + 3, and so tweaking got me home: 564 = (7 + 4)*(50 + 1) + 3.  Then I noticed that an offset of 14 is also an offset of 11, and hence the alternative solution 564 = (7 + 4)*(50 - 1) + 25.

My selection: 564 = (7 + 4)*(50 + 1) + 3


Round 4: M A S T C U A E O

I had MAST, CAMEOS, noted that an O instead of the second A would allow COMATOSE or OUTCOMES, and after a bit found ACETOUS ("sour; vinegary") for seven.  After time I observed the dual pair of CAT and MOUSE, and then finally spotted COSTUME as another seven.

Seven is the best on offer (which is little surprise with so many vowels).  The others are COMATES / CAMOTES (CAMOTE being a variant spelling of KAMOTE, a Philippine English term for a sweet potato), MUCOSAE (plural of MUCOSA: "a mucous membrane"), and CAEOMAS (one plural form of CAEOMA, which is something to do with certain fungi).

My selection: ACETOUS


Round 5: C S I P E C D E A

I had PICS, SPICE, SPICED, SPACED, wondered about DESPACE (not valid), and ACCEDES.  (Actually, I wrote down ACCEDES and ACCEEDS and tried to decide which looked right later.  Fortunately I chose the correct one.)

The other sevens are ESCAPED, ICECAPS / IPECACS, and SPECCIE ("Australian Rules a spectacular mark").

My selection: ACCEDES


Round 6: Target 862 from 75 4 9 5 8 5

The target is 38 away from 12*75, which seemed the most useful intermediate.  I was not able to parlay that into a solution, but did get to two away with 860 = (8 + 4)*75 - 5*9 + 5.  Taking a different approach, I noted that the target was near 9*96; making 95 was much easier than 96, and allowed me to get to one off with 861 = 9*(75 + 4*5) + 8.

After time I considered what would be involved in working down from 13*75; this should have been more tempting to consider as there were two clear ways to make the 13 (9 + 4 or 8 + 5).  The offset is 113, which is 9*13 - 4, and that happily tweaks to a solution: 862 = (75 - 9)*(8 + 5) + 4.

There is one other solution: 862 = (75 + 4)*(5 + 5) + 8*9.

My selection: 861 = 9*(75 + 4*5) + 8  [1 off]
Best: 862 = (75 - 9)*(8 + 5) + 4


Round 7: W S I M O B H U S

Ergh, horrible letters.  I had SWIM and WHIMS.  After time I noted SUSHI and WOMBS as some of the other fives.

There is one six lurking here: HIMBOS.

My selection: WHIMS
Best: HIMBOS


Round 8: Target 164 from 25 50 7 6 4 1

The target is 11 away from 7*25, which quickly tweaked to a solution: 164 = 7*(25 - 1) - 4.  Then I realised that using the factorisation of 4*41 would enable me to avoid the large numbers entirely with 164 = (7*6 - 1)*4.

My selection: 164 = (7*6 - 1)*4


Round 9: VEILS TILE

For a moment I thought that this was VELLEITIES (VELLEITY: "a mere wish, unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it"), but realised that something was not right about it before I buzzed in.  Indeed, it has too many letters.  Sadly, however, I was not able to unravel the solution.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: LIVELIEST