NG 637

New game 637 is now available.


Round 1: C E S U E H O R I

I had CUES, HOUSE, CEROUS ("containing trivalent cerium"), CHOIRS / ICHORS, ECHOES, CHORUS, and REHOUSE.  After time I noted other sevens of CUSHIER and HEROICS.

There are two eights here: ICEHOUSE and CHEERIOS (the farewells, not the cereal).  The other sevens are CHEERIO, COHEIRS, ECHOERS, EUCHRES, CEREOUS ("waxlike; waxy"), and HOUSIER*.

My selection: REHOUSE
Best: ICEHOUSE


Round 2: D A O B L O I R N

I had LOAD, BLOOD, recalled from past checking that DIABLO was not listed, ORDAIN, and ORDINAL.

The eight here is DOORNAIL.  The other sevens are ONBOARD, INBOARD, BORONIA, LABROID (a type of fish), and DIABOLO (I was surprised by this latter, as I'd assumed it was a brand name rather than a generic item).

My selection: ORDINAL
Best: DOORNAIL


Round 3: Target 166 from 1 4 8 7 2 5

The target is near 8*20, which should lead easily to 166 = 8*4*5 + 7 - 1, but for some reason I never considered that.  What I was first struck by was that the target was near 161, which is 7*23.  Since we have the 5 also, I focused on that and found a solution: 166 = (4*(8 - 2) - 1)*7 + 5.  Then I realised that 168 is 7*24 and that should be easier; indeed it was, giving 166 = (5 + 1)*4*7 - 2.  Finally, I looked at the factorisation 2*83 and found 166 = (7*(8 + 4) - 1)*2.

My selection: 166 = (5 + 1)*4*7 - 2


Round 4: F W H N D E A O M

I had WHEN, WANED, DAEMON, could not remember whether FANDOM was valid (it is), and FAWNED.  I tried to use the -WOMAN / -WOMEN suffix, but to no avail.

Six is indeed the best to be done here -- the Macquarie does not list ADWOMEN (although it does had ADMEN).  The other sixes are FOAMED, MEADOW, MOANED, FOEMAN, HODMAN ("a bricklayer's assistant"), and HODMEN (plural of HODMAN).

My selection: DAEMON


Round 5: S E F I G A T I J

I had AGES, AEGIS ("protection; sponsorship"), FIESTA, and AGEIST.

The other six is FASTIE ("a deceitful practice; a cunning act").

My selection: FIESTA


Round 6: Target 289 from 100 9 8 6 3 1

The target is the square of 17, so I quickly had 289 = (6*3 - 1)*(9 + 8).  Looking at the standard method, the offset is 11; I went with 289 = 3*(100 - 1) - 8 at first, then the untweaked option of 289 = 3*100 - (9 + 8 - 6).

My selection: 289 = (6*3 - 1)*(9 + 8)


Round 7: D S E T U N S A I

I had DUETS, TUNES, STAINED / DETAINS, TISSUED, was not sure about DESTAINS (not valid), and fortunately avoided having to think about that by finding SUSTAINED.  Hooray!

The eights here are SANDIEST and SINUATED (variant form of SINUATE: "bent in and out; winding; sinuous") / AUDIENTS (AUDIENT: "a listener").

My selection: SUSTAINED


Round 8: Target 241 from 75 2 8 7 3 7

I went with the standard method this time, getting 241 = 3*75 + 2*8.

My selection: 241 = 3*75 + 2*8


Round 9: LARGE VEIN

I was a bit slow off the mark here, but the -ING fragment proved its worth again.

My selection: REVEALING (2.2s)