NG 670

New game 670 is now available.


Round 1: B C R E G O B A L

I had BORE, COBBER, and CLOBBER.  We almost had BRICOLAGE ("the use of only the materials or tools at hand to achieve a purpose"), but not quite.

Seven is the best to be done.  The others are COBBLER, GOBBLER, BELABOR, CLABBER ("(of milk) to become thick in souring"), and GABBLER / GRABBLE ("to feel or search with the hands; grope").

My selection: CLOBBER


Round 2: T C M I N T O S I

I had MINT, STOIC, TONICS, OTITIS, and STICTION.  Alas, the Macquarie does not list this last, so I had an invalid round.

There are still eights to be had: MONISTIC (adjective derived from MONISM: "the theory that reality is one (as opposed to pluralism)") / NOMISTIC (adjective derived from NOMISM: "conduct in a religion based on a law or laws").

The sevens are MIOTICS (MIOTIC as a noun: "a miotic drug"; as an adjective: "relating to, producing, or suffering from miosis"; MIOSIS is "excessive contraction of the pupil of the eye [...]") / SOMITIC (adjective derived from SOMITE: "any of the longitudinal series of segments or parts into which the body of certain animals is divided") and MITOTIC (adjective derived from MITOSIS).

My selection: [invalid -- STICTION]
Best: MONISTIC


Round 3: Target 145 from 100 75 4 1 2 2

The standard method led to 145 = 2*75 - 4 - 1, then I also used the factorisation 5*29 to get 145 = (100 - 75 + 4)*(2 + 2 + 1).

My selection:145 = 2*75 - 4 - 1


Round 4: Z E O A C R N X U

I had CRAZE and ACORN.

There are some sixes here, though: CORNEA, COAXER, CORNUA (plural of CORNU: "a horn-like process of bone"), and CONURE (a type of parrot).

My selection: ACORN
Best: CORNEA


Round 5: A E M K W D F G I

I had MAKE, WAKED, FAKED, MIDGE, FAKIE (a skateboarding manoeuvre), and GAWKED.

The other six here is IMAGED.

My selection: GAWKED


Round 6: Target 997 from 25 50 100 1 7 9

Getting to 1000 seems like a good start, and that gave me a fallback one away 998 = (9 + 1)*100 - 50/25.  Searching for a way to get there exactly, I considered working up from 900.  The offset is 97, of course, and once I subtracted 9*7 from that I was left with 34, which I realised was 9 + 25.  A further tweak finished it off: 997 = 9*(100 + 7 + 1) + 25.

The above is essentially the only solution (there is a trivial variation that replaces 25 by 50 - 25).

My selection: 997 = 9*(100 + 7 + 1) + 25


Round 7: S A N D O I R S O

I had SAND, DRAINS, and ORISONS (ORISON: "a prayer").  After time I noted other sevens of INROADS / ORDAINS and SORDINO (a synonym of MUTE in the sense of "a mechanical device of various shapes and materials for muffling the tone of a musical instrument").  The plural of SORDINO is SORDINI, not SORDINOS, so that does not lead to an eight.

The remaining sevens are INDOORS, DOOSRAS, and NARDOOS (NARDOO: "any of the Australian species of the mud-loving or aquatic genus of ferns, Marsilea").

My selection: ORISONS


Round 8: Target 184 from 100 25 6 10 4 4

The target is 4*46, leading to 184 = 4*(4*10 + 6).

My selection: 184 = 4*(4*10 + 6)


Round 9: NICE VIRUS

Another chosen conundrum; I forget what inspired it.

My selection: [N/A -- chosen]
Best: INCURSIVE