NG 600

New game 600 is now available.

The re-run is episode 330; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: T N S C U S N I E

I had STUN, STUNS, CUTIES, INSECTS, and SUNNIEST.

SUNNIEST is the only eight.  The other sevens are SUNNIES, INCESTS, CUEISTS / ICTUSES ("Prosody rhythmical or metrical stress") / CUTISES (CUTIS: "the corium or true skin, beneath the epidermis"), INCUSES (INCUSE: "to hammer or stamp, as a figure on a coin"), SENNITS (SENNIT: "a kind of flat braided cordage used on shipboard, formed by plaiting strands of rope yarn or other fibre") / SINNETS (SINNET being a variant form of SENNIT), and TUNNIES (TUNNY being any of a few types of fish).

My selection: SUNNIEST


Round 2: I B T C R D E M E

I had CRIB, TRIBE, a dubious CRIMED (not valid), DEMERIT / MERITED, RECITED, and TIMBERED.

TIMBERED is the only eight.  The other sevens are BEDTIME, BEMIRED, and RETIMED / MITERED / DIMETER ("Prosody a verse or line of two measures or feet").

My selection: TIMBERED


Round 3: Target 561 from 100 75 10 5 7 6

I recognised the target as 3*11*17, but that proved frustratingly difficult to utilise.  I wrote down a fallback of one away with 560 = 7*(75 + 5), and then chased several unprofitable lines.  Near the end of time found a solution but lost track of it as I tried to get it down.  That left me with the fallback, and a bit relieved that I had written it down.

Without the panic of notional time pressure, I was able to unravel my thoughts and recover the solution.  The idea was to descend from 7*100 = 700; after subtracting the 75, the offset is 64.  That 64 can be made as 7*10 - 6, and tweaking sorts it out: 561 = 7*(100 - 10) - 75 + 6.

A bit after that I revisited the standard approach of working up from 7*75 = 525.  The offset is 36; I had originally focused on that as being 6*6, which is no good, but saw an alternative approach that worked: 561 = 7*75 + 100/5 + 10 + 6.

My selection: 560 = 7*(75 + 5)  [1 off]
Best: 561 = 7*(100 - 10) - 75 + 6


Round 4: N E L H W T I E E

I had WHEN, LENT, WHILE, ETHINE (variant spelling of ETHYNE), and WHEELIE.  (Alas, that variation in the spelling of ETHINE does not extend to making ETHILENE valid.)  After time I found another seven of TWEENIE (variant spelling of TWEENY: "a child, especially a girl between the ages of 8 or 9 and 13 or 14").

Those are the only sevens.  The other sixes are WHITEN, ETHENE, THEINE ("caffeine found in tea"), and WEENIE (in the frankfurter sense).

My selection: WHEELIE


Round 5: I O Y C E A G T C

A tough mix!  I had CAGE, CACTI, and COATI.  I also saw OCICAT, but knew from past experience that it was not listed.  A bit after time I amused myself with the idea of GEOCITY (not valid) as a backformation from GeoCities, and that led me to find the seven of ECOCITY ("a city in which pollution and other potentially harmful environmental effects are minimised).

ECOCITY is the only seven; the sixes are GAIETY and ACETIC.

My selection: CACTI
Best: ECOCITY


Round 6: Target 653 from 25 75 2 3 7 7

The value 625 is always a tempting subtarget when there are enough large numbers, as it is 25*25.  The offset is 28, which is 4*7, and so it all came together reasonably easily: 653 = 25*75/3 + 2*(7 + 7).  Then I looked at getting to 650 first and adding the 3; 650 is 25*26, so a subtask is to make the 26.  I found a way to do so, getting 653 = (75 - 7*7)*25 + 3.

Seen while writing this up is the simpler option of 653 = (7 + 2)*75 - 25 + 3.

My selection: 653 = (75 - 7*7)*25 + 3


Round 7: N K T X O F U I I

I had KNOT, FOUNT, INFIX, was rightly dubious about OUTFIX (it has a use as a term in computer science, but that's too specialised for the Macquarie), and TOXIN.  A bit after time I saw the six of FINITO.

FINITO is the only six; the other fives are UNFIT, FUTON, UNFIX, and KNOUT ("a kind of whip or scourge formerly used in Russia for flogging criminals").

My selection: TOXIN
Best: FINITO


Round 8: Target 390 from 100 50 3 4 5 5

I started with the prosaic 390 = 4*100 - 5 - 5, then played around a bit to come up with the overly complicated 390 = (3*4 + 5)*100/5 + 50.

My selection: 390 = (3*4 + 5)*100/5 + 50


Round 9: MINUS EGGS

I got lost in the -ING trap for a while, before looking at -NESS and finding the answer of MUGGINESS.

My selection: MUGGINESS (7.2s)