NG 613

New game 613 is now available.

The re-run is episode 343; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: U F N N Q I A K A

I had an uncertain QUIN (valid), FUNK, AQUA, and FAUNA.

Five is the best to be done, with the other one being NIKAU ("the only palm native to New Zealand [...]").

My selection: FAUNA


Round 2: O T E R L C I T U

I had TORE, LECTOR, CITOLE (a variant name for either of two different instruments, the cittern and the kithara), CLUTTER, and was unsure about CLOTTIER* (valid under the new rules, as CLOTTY is explicitly listed).  After time I noted CLOTURE as another seven, but it turns out that the Macquarie does not list it.

The other sevens are OUTLIER, COULTER ("a sharp blade or wheel attached to the beam of a plough, used to cut the ground in advance of the ploughshare"), COTTIER ("an Irish peasant holding a portion of land directly from the owner, the amount of rent being fixed not by custom or private agreement but by public competition"), UTRICLE (("a small sac or bag-like body, as an air-filled cavity in a seaweed"), CORTILE ("an enclosed courtyard, within or attached to a building, usually roofless"), and TORTILE ("twisted; coiled") / TRIOLET (a type of poem).

But the safe eight here is TOREUTIC ("of or relating to toreutics or to objects decorated by this work"; here TOREUTICS is "the art of decorating metal by embossing or engraving").

My selection: CLUTTER


Round 3: Target 665 from 100 1 6 6 4 4

With only one odd number the options are limited.  I started by working up from 600 with a tweak to get 665 = 6*(100 + 6 + 4) + 4 + 1, then noticed the factorisation 7*95 and so found an alternative of 665 = (100 - 6 + 4/4)*(6 + 1).

My selection: 665 = (100 - 6 + 4/4)*(6 + 1)


Round 4: C O M R G E I D R

I had CORM ("a short, swollen upright stembase in which food is stored, as in the gladiolus"), COMER, CRIME, CODGER, and DORMICE.

DORMICE is the only seven, and the best to be done.

My selection: DORMICE


Round 5: T D N B C A E H I

I had CANT, DECANT, CHANTED, and CABINET.

Seven is the limit here; the others are BATCHED, BITCHED, CHAINED / ECHIDNA, HABITED, CABINED, and BENTHIC (adjective derived from BENTHOS: "the animals and plants that live on the floor of the sea or lakes").

My selection: CABINET


Round 6: Target 536 from 25 75 50 7 6 3

Using 7*75 as a starting point seemed reasonable, and the offset of 11 could be made with the rest: 536 = 7*75 + 6 + 3 + 50/25.  Switching approaches, I found an alternative solution of 536 = (50 + 75/25)*(7 + 3) + 6.

Seen while writing this up is another option -- the offset from 50 is 14, which is divisible by 7, so tweaking yields 536 = 7*(75 - 6/3) + 25.

My selection: 536 = (50 + 75/25)*(7 + 3) + 6


Round 7: T I S A P E R M O

I had PAST, TAPES, PIRATES, PRIMATES, and AMORTISE / ATOMISER.

The other eight is ATROPISM ("the morbid state induced by atropine").

My selection: PRIMATES


Round 8: Target 289 from 100 25 75 50 10 4

The target is the square of 17, but that seems hard to use effectively.  However, it is 14 away from 275, and 14 is available from the small numbers.  Some familiarity with the large numbers would lead one to know that 275 could be made from them, and so to find 289 = 50*100/25 + 75 + 10 + 4.

My selection: 289 = 50*100/25 + 75 + 10 + 4


Round 9: GRIN STING

Hard to go past -ING here, and of course it is the right thing to look at.

My selection: STRINGING (1.7s)