NG 605

New game 605 is now available.

The re-run is episode 335; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: L H E N O A I N C

I had HOLE, HALON, INHALE, and CHANNEL

The other sevens are ENCHAIN, HELICON (a type of tuba) / CHOLINE (a certain alcohol, in the chemistry sense of the term), and CHALONE ("an endocrine secretion which reduces physiological activity").

There are no eights, but there is a full monty here: CHELONIAN ("a tortoise or a turtle").

My selection: CHANNEL
Best: CHELONIAN


Round 2: P U H A N T K E W

I had AUNT, HAUNT, PEANUT, and wondered about UPTAKEN.  It was just a touch too risky for me, and that was the right decision -- it is not listed.

The other sixes are UNWEPT, PUNKAH ("Indian English an electric fan"), and HAPTEN ("an incomplete antigen").  I was a bit surprised that UNKEPT was not listed, and also similarly about UNTHAW.  That latter was less surprising on reflection, since the appropriate concept is just "thaw".  Still, I expect it gets a certain amount of use.

My selection: PEANUT


Round 3: Target 287 from 75 25 2 1 4 4

The target is 7*41, but that seems too difficult.  The target is nearly midway between multiples of 25, so the option of doubling it was tempting since we have both a 2 and a 1 (for the offset).  That leads to trying to make the target as (575 - 1) / 2, and that turned out to be manageable: 287 = ((4 + 4)*75 - 25 - 1)/2.  Then I looked at more standard approaches, working down from 300 to get 287 = 4*(75 - 4) + 2 + 1.

Seen while writing this up is the alternative solution 287 = 4*75 - 25 + 4*(2 + 1).  Of course, that can be shortened to 287 = 4*(75 + 2 + 1) - 25.

My selection: 287 = ((4 + 4)*75 - 25 - 1)/2


Round 4: S L D O R S I A E

I had SOLD, LORDS, DROSS, SOLIDS, SAILORS, DARIOLES (DARIOLE: "a type of small, cup-shaped mould"), SOLDIERS, and pondered  the merits of SOLARISED (valid; SOLARISE is "to affect by sunlight") and RADIOLESS (not valid).  RADIOLESS was easily rejected, but SOLARISED was almost plausible.  Alas, I rejected it also and stayed with my safe eights.

The other eights are SOLARISE and ASSOILED (ASSOIL: "to absolve; acquit; pardon").

My selection: DARIOLES
Best: SOLARISED


Round 5: F D O R E T P O I

I had FORD, PORTED / DEPORT, PERIDOT, PROFITED, and PROOFED (PROOF: "to treat or coat (a material) in order to make it resistant to deterioration or damage, impervious to water, etc.").  After time I amused myself with the idea of DIETPROOF.

PROFITED is the only eight.  The other sevens are TORPEDO / TROOPED, FORETOP / POOFTER, DIOPTRE ("a unit of the refractive power of a lens [...]") / DIOPTER (American spelling of DIOPTRE), and POOFIER*.

My selection: PROFITED


Round 6: Target 516 from 25 7 10 5 1 7

I flailed around a bit, then tried to get close with 7*7*10 and discovered that it gave me a solution: 516 = 7*7*10 + 25 + 1.  Lucky!  Then I looked at the factorisation; it is divisible by 6, with cofactor 86.  That means it is also 12*43, and a 12 is easily managed.  The 43 could be made with the remaining numbers, and so yields the solution 516 = (25 + 10 + 7 + 1)*(7 + 5).

My selection: 516 = 7*7*10 + 25 + 1


Round 7: C F A G T E U O R

I had FACT, FACET, FAUCET, an uncertain OUTFACE (valid), OUTRAGE, and COURAGE.

The other sevens are FOREGUT and FACTURE ("the act, process, or manner of making anything") / FURCATE ("to form a fork; divide into branches").

My selection: OUTRAGE


Round 8: Target 959 from 25 8 3 9 2 5

We have the offset of 9 for the standard method, so that is surely worth a look.  The remaining 950 is 38*25, and we can make the 38; that leads to 959 = (5*8 - 2)*25 + 9.  I wanted to solve this as 7*137, but was unable to get that to work.

There are only two other solutions, both also making the target as 38*25 + 9.  They are 959 = (2*3*5 + 8)*25 + 9 and 959 = 2*(3*8 - 5)*25 + 9.

My selection: 959 = (5*8 - 2)*25 + 9


Round 9: PRADA PANG

The three A's were not promising, but things got much better once I pulled out GRAND as a fragment.

My selection: GRANDPAPA (2.7s)