NG 601

New game 601 is now available.

The re-run is episode 331; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: I E L B D U M A T

I had BILE, an uncertain BLUED (valid; BLUE as a verb: "to make blue; dye a blue colour"), LIMBED, wondered if perhaps BDELIUM (not valid) might be an alternative spelling of BDELLIUM, TUMBLED, and MUTABLE.

The eight here is DUTIABLE ("subject to duty, as imported goods").  The other sevens are AUDIBLE, MIAULED, and LIMBATE ("bordered, as a flower in which one colour is surrounded by an edging of another") / TIMBALE ("a preparation of minced meat, fish, or vegetables, cooked in a cup-shaped mould").

My selection: TUMBLED
Best: DUTIABLE


Round 2: S L E B C T I S A

I had CELS, CITES, BESTIAL / STABILE, and STABILES.

The nine here is BASILECTS (BASILECT: "the social dialect of a given language which is deemed to be least prestigious").  The other eights are BASILECT, SCALIEST / ELASTICS, and ASTILBES (ASTILBE being a type of plant).  There's a goodly selection of sevens, of which I'll just mention the more common: ELASTIC / LACIEST, CASTLES, BISECTS, STABLES, ABSEILS, and ABLEIST (only an adjective, so ABLEISTS is not valid).

My selection: STABILES
Best: BASILECTS


Round 3: Target 399 from 75 6 10 2 10 3

Applying the standard method did not let me get there easily from 375, but I was able to tweak my way down from 450 with 399 = 6*(75 - 10) + 10 - (3 - 2).  Then I turned my mind to the factorisation 7*57 and found an alternative solution of 399 = (75 - 10 - 6 - 2)*(10 - 3).

My selection: 399 = (75 - 10 - 6 - 2)*(10 - 3)


Round 4: G N A O E O R R N

I had GONE, GONER, OREGANO, and ORANGE.  After time I noted other sevens of GROANER and ORGANON ("an instrument of thought or knowledge").

Those turn out to be all the sevens.  The other sixes are GARNER / RANGER, NONAGE ("any period of immaturity"), ONAGER (a type of wild ass), and OROGEN ("a linear belt of deformed rocks on the earth's crust caused by rock folding during orogenesis").

My selection: OREGANO


Round 5: D R U E O C A S C

I had RUDE, CRUDE, CAROUSED, ACCUSED, and ACCURSED.  That kind of tells an entire story, right there.

The other eight is SUCCORED (SUCCOR being a variant spelling of SUCCOUR).  The other sevens are CAROUSE / ACEROUS (variant form of ACEROSE: "needle-shaped, as the leaves of the pine"), SCOURED / SOURCED / COURSED, ACCORDS, ACCUSED, ACCRUES / ACCUSER, and CRUSADE.

My selection: CAROUSED


Round 6: Target 717 from 25 50 75 5 6 9

The immediate offsets of 8 and 17 did not look promising.  Looking further afield, though, the offset from 9*75 is 42, which is 6*7.  It comes together quite neatly to give a solution: 717 = 9*75 + 6*(5 + 50/25).  Then I switched to thinking about 720 as an intermediate value, and found another option: 717 = 9*(75 + 5) - 6/(50/25).

My selection: 717 = 9*75 + 6*(5 + 50/25)


Round 7: I M T R G E D O E

I had TRIM, TIGER, MITRED, DEMERIT / MERITED / RETIMED / DIMETER / MITERED, and was about to call it a round when a nagging thought crystallised and I saw GEOMETRID (a type of moth).  Whew!

There are no eights, and I've listed all the sevens above.

My selection: GEOMETRID


Round 8: Target 130 from 75 50 1 6 2 2

I went with a simple 130 = 75 + 50 + 6 - 1, then found a way to complicate it with 130 = (50 + 75/(6 - 1))*2.

My selection: 130 = 75 + 50 + 6 - 1


Round 9: CAT TIPTOE

Too many T's for me -- I did not find this solution within time.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: PETTICOAT