NG 607

New game 607 is now available.

The re-run is episode 337; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: E O C S R G P E C

I had SCORE, CORPSE, and COERCES -- it took a little while to spot it, and I'm quite happy to have done so.

COERCES is the only seven.  The other sixes are COERCE, SOCCER, GROPES, REPOSE, CREEPS / CREPES, and RECCES.

My selection: COERCES


Round 2: H T A E J C L I E

I had HEAT, TEACH, and pondered HELICATE but rightly rejected it.  While checking on it afterwards I saw the nearby HELIAC (alternative form of HELIACAL: "relating to or occurring near the sun [...]").  A bit later I thought of TECHIE for another six, and then found the seven of CHELATE ("Chemistry a molecular structure in which a central polyvalent metal ion is combined into one or more rings by a chelating agent").

The other seven is ETHICAL.  The other sixes are THECAE (plural of THECA: "a case or receptacle"), CHALET / THECAL (adjective derived from THECA), LICHEE (variant spelling of LYCHEE), HALITE (another term for rock salt), CHITAL (a type of deer), EJECTA ("matter ejected, as from a volcano in eruption"), and CHELAE (plural of CHELA: "the nipper-like organ or claw terminating certain limbs of some arthropods").

My selection: TEACH
Best: CHELATE


Round 3: Target 114 from 100 75 9 2 3 9

The straightforward approach works: 114 = 100 + 9 + 3 + 2.  Looking around for alternatives, I found the overly complicated 114 = 100 + (75 + 9)/(2*3).

My selection: 114 = 100 + (75 + 9)/(2*3)


Round 4: A A S N A T R T R

I had TANS, RANTS, TARTANS, wanted a final L for TARLATANS (TARLATAN: "a thin, open, stiff cotton fabric, not washable"), RATTANS, and wondered about TARANTAS.  It did not feel quite right, although I felt it was close to something -- but I could not figure out what.  As it turns out, TARANTAS is not in the Macquarie, although it did show up in the Scrabble list.  It might be another name for the tarantella.

The eight that is here, though, is TANTARAS (TANTARA: "a blast of a trumpet or horn").  That's what I was trying to recall -- I gave it a mention back in NG 306.  The other sevens are TANTARA and TARTARS.

My selection: TARTANS
Best: TANTARAS


Round 5: S A T I A R E L M

I had TIARAS, ATRESIA ("Medicine the congenital absence or excessive narrowing of a duct or canal"), LARIATS, REALIST, an uncertain MARLIEST* / MARLITES (not listed, as it turns out, although it shows up in the Scrabble list), and then fortunately sidestepped those difficulties by finding the nine of MATERIALS.

The eights here are MATERIAL and ALARMIST / ALASTRIM ("a mild form of smallpox").

My selection: MATERIALS


Round 6: Target 944 from 25 10 5 4 5 8

I struggled with this one; it seemed clear to me that working down from 1000 was tempting, with a few ways to get to the 1000 as 25*40.  I started with 945 = 10*(4*25 - 8) + 5*5.  945 has many useful factors, and playing around with that gave me another one-off 945 = (25 + 10)*(4*8 - 5).  The offset from 1000 is 56, which is 8*7.  Unfortunately, making a 7 was hard.  Then I took a mental step back and realised that I should treat 1000 as 8*125, and thus aim for 8*118 to get to the target.  That turned out to be feasible after all, and gave me the solution 944 = (4*(25 + 5) - 10/5)*8.

That turns out to be the only solution.

My selection: 944 = (4*(25 + 5) - 10/5)*8


Round 7: T B O S I U M G D

I had BOTS, BOUTS, a highly dubious OUTDIGS (not valid), a somewhat uncertain DIMOUTS (I think this has come up before; later checking confirmed that the Macquarie wants the hyphen: DIM-OUTS), STUDIO, SUBMIT, GOMUTIS (GOMUTI, also GOMUTI PALM, being a type of palm tree), and MIDGUTS.

The other seven is OUTBIDS, but the eight here is MISDOUBT.

My selection: MIDGUTS
Best: MISDOUBT


Round 8: Target 518 from 75 25 9 3 10 10

I started by working up from 500, which got me to one away with 519 = 10*(75 - 25) + 10 + 9.  Then I switched to working down from 525, which highlighted the factorisation 7*74 and so led to 518 = (10 - 3)*(75 - (10 - 9)).

My selection: 518 = (10 - 3)*(75 - (10 - 9))


Round 9: TEN TEAPOT

Lots of T's, and the -ATE fragment is always worth a look.  That got me quickly to the answer of POTENTATE, perhaps because I mentioned it's almost-appearance back in NG 579.

My selection: POTENTATE (1.5s)