NG 677

New game 677 is now available.


Round 1: M T I E S R C O U

I had TIME, MITES, MERITS, METRICS, and OUTCRIES.  Glancing back at this mix later I saw CUSTOMER as another eight, and that led directly to the full monty of COSTUMIER ("someone who makes or deals in costumes").

COSTUMIER is the only nine.  The other eights are COSTUMER (variant form of COSTUMIER), MOISTURE, MORTICES, and CITREOUS ("lemon yellow; greenish yellow").

My selection: OUTCRIES
Best: COSTUMIER


Round 2: T L E N P E C A R

I had LENT, PLACE, CENTRAL, and pondered but correctly rejected PRECLEAN.  A little after time I spotted the eight of PENTACLE.

PENTACLE is the only eight.  There's  decent spread of sevens, of which I'll just mention CLEANER, ETERNAL, TREACLE, LECTERN, PERCENT, PRELATE, and PLANTER.

My selection: CENTRAL
Best: PENTACLE


Round 3: Target 824 from 75 100 3 5 6 10

Knowledge of the 75-times tables gives an easy one off with 825 = (6 + 5)*75, but that does not seem to easily adapt to a full solution.  I turned my attention to the factorisation 8*103 and found 824 = (6 + 10/5)*(100 + 3).  Then I considered the option of 830 - 6 and found another solution of 824 = (75 + 5 + 3)*10 - 6.

My selection: 824 = (6 + 10/5)*(100 + 3)


Round 4: O M A T D N U W H

I had MOAT, AMOUNT, and HANDOUT.

HANDOUT is the only seven.  The other sixes are OUTMAN, MAHOUT ("(in India and South-East Asia) the keeper and driver of an elephant"), HODMAN ("a bricklayer's assistant"), and NUMDAH ("a type of woollen felt manufactured in India and often made into rugs with brightly coloured and highly patterned oversewing").

My selection: HANDOUT


Round 5: D J O S A R I K F

I had SODA, ROADS, RADIOS, and FAKIRS.

Six is the best on offer; the others are FJORDS, FIORDS (FIORD being a variant spelling of FJORD), KAFIRS (KAFIR being a Muslim term for an unbeliever), and AROIDS (AROID being a type of plant such as the taro).

My selection: FAKIRS


Round 6: Target 793 from 25 8 2 9 1 5

Applying the standard method, the nearby 800 is 25*32.  The offset of 7 can be made with the remaining numbers, giving the answer 793 = 8*(5 - 1)*25 - (9 - 2).

My selection: 793 = 8*(5 - 1)*25 - (9 - 2)


Round 7: N N E D O B A T I

I had DONE, BONED, BANNED, OBTAINED, and ANTINODE.

The other eight is ANOINTED.  The sevens are INTONED and NIOBATE.

My selection: OBTAINED


Round 8: Target 881 from 75 9 1 4 8 7

Looking at the standard method again, the target is near 12*75 = 900.  The 12 can be made as 8 + 4; the offset of 19 is 12 + 7, so a tweak gets us home: 881 = (8 + 4)*(75 - 1) - 7.  I looked at that solution and realised that another way of thinking of it was as making the target via 888 - 7; that led me to consider the option of 8*111 - 7, and I managed to get that to work with 881 = (75 + 4*9)*8 - 7.

My selection: 881 = (8 + 4)*(75 - 1) - 7


Round 9: ENRAGE EGG

A GREENGAGE is a variety of plum.

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