NG 680

New game 680 is now available.


Round 1: I E M I T U R S N

I had TIME, MERIT, MERITS, an uncertain MISTIER (valid), TERMINUS, and MINISTER.  After time I noted other eights of MUNTRIES (which turned up just a few games ago in NG 674; it is the plural of MUNTRY, a type of shrub) and NEURITIS.

The remaining eights are INTERIMS and MUTINIES.

My selection: TERMINUS


Round 2: L G O K X E N T I

I had OXEN, was rightly dubious about EXTOLING (not even American spelling could save that one), TINGLE, and LENTIGO (a freckle).  I also observed that one could make TOLKIEN from the letters.

The other seven to be had is KINGLET (either "a king ruling over a small country or territory" or a type of bird).

My selection: LENTIGO


Round 3: Target 392 from 75 50 25 4 3 2

The target is 8 away from 400, and thus 4*(100 - 2).  I went with that option to get 392 = 4*(75 + 25 - 2), but just now have noticed the untweaked option of 392 = 3*(75 + 50) + 25 - 2*4.

My selection: 392 = 4*(75 + 25 - 2)


Round 4: S M N A D E W H U

I had MANS, DAMNS, MEDUSAN (another name for a jellyfish), rightly rejected UNSHAMED, and UNWASHED.

UNWASHED is the only eight.  The other seven is NUMDAHS (NUMDAH was another recent find, in NG 677; it is "a type of woollen felt manufactured in India and often made into rugs with brightly coloured and highly patterned oversewing").

My selection: UNWASHED


Round 5: C O O M R R R E I

Ergh, nasty duplication.  I had ROOM, ROOMER, ROOMIER, and MIRROR.

ROOMIER is the only seven, and the best to be done.  The other sixes are CORRIE ("a circular hollow in the side of a hill or mountain, often containing a small lake, formed by glacial action") / ORRICE (variant spelling of ORRIS: "any of certain species of iris [...]").

My selection: ROOMIER


Round 6: Target 689 from 100 75 50 25 6 2

The obvious first steps for getting near are 6*100 + 75.  That leaves us 14 away, and we could make that as 6*2 + 2 (with one of those 2's being 50/25).  Putting it all together yields the solution 689 = 6*(100 + 2) + 75 + 50/25.

My selection: 689 = 6*(100 + 2) + 75 + 50/25


Round 7: B S C A P O H B I

I had CABS, CAPOS (CAPOS: "a leader in the Mafia organisation"), CHAPS, CHIPS, POACH, and PHOBIAS.

The other seven is PHOBICS (PHOBIC being listed as both an adjective and a noun derived from PHOBIA).  The sixes are PHOBIA, PHOBIC, BISHOP, CABOBS (CABOB being a variant spelling of KEBAB), and COBIAS (COBIA being a type of fish).

My selection: PHOBIAS


Round 8: Target 886 from 75 100 4 6 5 1

The target is near my beloved 875, which as I've mentioned before is 5*175 or 7*125.  The former is obviously the right way to go since we have the 5 and can make the 175.  The remaining offset is 11, which could be formed by adding up the leftover numbers (886 = 5*(100 + 75) + 6 + 4 + 1), but instead I went with the tweak: 886 = 5*(100 + 75 + 1) + 6.

While looking around at other options, I stumbled across another solution of 886 = 4*(75 - 5) + 6*(100 + 1).

My selection: 886 = 5*(100 + 75 + 1) + 6


Round 9: NEON MARCH

The key to this one for me was pulling out -MAN / -MEN early, which guided me to the answer of ANCHORMEN.

My selection: ANCHORMEN (4.7s)