NG 669

New game 669 is now available.


Round 1: T U G Z D A Y O I

I had an uncertain GAUD (valid: "a showy ornament"), GAUDY, and AGOUTI.

The other six is AGOUTY, a variant spelling of AGOUTI.

My selection: AGOUTI


Round 2: U R C E S O I N L

I had CURE, CURSE, COUSIN, wanted a final X for EXCURSION or R for RECURSION, and then realised that the L gave me RECLUSION.  I also noted the eight of COINSURE.

The other nine here is INCLOSURE.  The other eights are INCLOSER, LICENSOR, and INSOURCE.

My selection: RECLUSION


Round 3: Target 755 from 50 5 2 1 4 8

Applying the standard method suggests making this as 15*50 + 5, and it conveniently works out: 755 = (8 + 2 + 5)*50 + 4 + 1.

My selection: 755 = (8 + 2 + 5)*50 + 4 + 1


Round 4: E T O M S U F T E

I had MOTE, SMOTE, OUTSET, and TOTEMS / MOTETS (MOTET: "a vocal composition in polyphonic style, on a biblical or similar prose text, intended for use in a church service") / MOTTES (MOTTE: "a fort on top of a mound").

The eight here is MOFETTES (MOFETTE: "a noxious emanation, consisting chiefly of carbon dioxide, escaping from the earth in regions of nearly extinct volcanic activity").  The sevens are MOFETTE and MUSETTE ("an ancient French double-reed instrument, resembling a bagpipe, sometimes with a drone and windbag").

My selection: OUTSET
Best: MOFETTES


Round 5: D I S N L T H O A

I had DINS, DINTS, ISLAND, TALIONS (TALION: "retaliation as authorised by law, especially when the punishment inflicted corresponds in kind and degree to the injury, as 'eye for eye'") / LATIONS (LATION being listed as an Aboriginal English term for "a relative"), and DALTONS (DALTON being another term for an atomic mass unit).

The other sevens are DOLTISH, HALOIDS (HALOID being a compound involving a halogen), and LADINOS (LADINO: "an uncontrollable horse, steer, etc.; a stray") / DOLINAS (DOLINA being a variant spelling of DOLINE: "a shallow depression, either funnel- or saucer-shaped, and having its floor covered by cultivated soil, formed by solution in mountain limestone country").

But there is an eight to be had in this mix, and I wish that I'd seen it: SHITLOAD.

My selection: DALTONS
Best: SHITLOAD


Round 6: Target 760 from 7 5 5 1 6 7

This was a tough one; the target was fairly high, and the small numbers included a 1.  The other small numbers were all clustered together, greatly reducing the options available.  I got hung up on trying to get to 770 via 7*110 and then adjusting, but nothing worked out for me.  In the end I had to admit that I had gone over time without anything to show for it.

Once time had expired and the pressure was off I finally found my way to the 770 by exploiting the pair of 7's: 770 = (7 + 7)*5*(6 + 5).  That left the 1 over for tweaking, and of the components in the multiplication (14, 5, 11) the closest to the offset of 10 was the 11.  That meant that I could tweak to get to one away: 759 = (6 + 5)*(5*(7 + 7) - 1).

Later checking revealed that one off is the best to be done, and the above is the only way to get that close.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: 759 = (6 + 5)*(5*(7 + 7) - 1)  [1 off]


Round 7: C E H O R E R S S

I had ECHO, OCHRE, an uncertain ECHOER (valid), CHEERS, CROSSER (at first I was dubious about this, as it seemed an unlikely agent noun to be listed; then I realised that it was also the comparative of CROSS, and the single-syllable rule for adjectives kicked in) / RECROSS (also uncertain, but this is listed), and HEROES.  After time I noted HEROES as another six.

Some sources would apparently allow COSHERERS, but it's not in the Macquarie.  That leaves the best to be done as COHERERS (COHERER: "an obsolete device for detecting radio waves [...]").  The other sevens are COHERER, COHERES, ECHOERS, RESHOES, and perhaps COSHERS (COSHER is listed as a variant spelling of KOSHER, in this context meaning "kosher food"; it is not clear that this is pluralisable).

My selection: CROSSER


Round 8: Target 133 from 25 50 75 7 2 6

I recognised that the target was 7*19, and shortly had 133 = (25 - 6)*7.  Then I wrote down the more prosaic 133 = 75 + 50 + 6 + 2.

My selection: 133 = (25 - 6)*7


Round 9: NICE SLURS

I got hung up for a while on the similarity between this and round two, and it took me a little while to focus on the -LESS and -NESS options.

My selection: CURLINESS (6.1s)