NG 686

New game 686 is now available.

The re-run is episode 389; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: I R O A W F H S D

I had FAIR, WHARFS, and OARFISH.  After time I checked up on DWARFISH, and to my surprise found that it was valid.  Bother.

DWARFISH is the only eight.  The other sevens are AIRSHOW and HAIRDOS.

My selection: OARFISH
Best: DWARFISH


Round 2: L T N R U E M E E

I had RUNT, TUREEN, and ELEMENT.

The other seven is REELMEN (plural of REELMAN: "he member of a surf-lifesaving team who handles the reel").  But there is an eight: MULETEER ("a driver of mules").

My selection: ELEMENT
Best: MULETEER


Round 3: Target 304 from 100 75 3 10 5 3

Getting close with 3*100 is easy enough, but it takes a little thought to find the remaining 4.  What worked for me was to think of 3*3 - 5, leading to 304 = 3*(100 + 3) - 5.

My selection: 304 = 3*(100 + 3) - 5


Round 4: S H I R P A E I O

I had RIPS, PARISH, knew from past experience that HARPIES* is not specifically listed, SHARPIE (a type of boat), and APHORISE.

APHORISE is the only eight.  The other sevens are AIRSHIP, SOAPIER, and ROSEHIP.

My selection: APHORISE


Round 5: S A B N C O I R U

I had BANS, BACONS, CASINO, CARIBOU, and CARIBOUS.  It's not necessarily the expected plural form (which would typically be just CARIBOU), but it is listed.

Although RUBICON has a generic definition ("a boundary or limitation"), it is only listed with a capital letter and so RUBICONS is not valid.  That leaves CARIBOUS as the only eight.  The other sevens are AIRCONS, CARBONS, CARIOUS / CURIOSA, and ACINOUS ("consisting of acini", where 'acini' means berries or similar).

My selection: CARIBOUS


Round 6: Target 387 from 25 100 50 3 1 4

The target is 9*43, but I found it easier to work with 3*129, giving 387 = 3*(100 + 25 + 4).  I also noted an alternative of 387 = 4*(100 - 3) - 1.

My selection: 387 = 4*(100 - 3) - 1


Round 7: M E I C A C S D J

I had MICE, wondered about MECCA (it does have generic lowercase meanings, such as "any goal to which people aspire", so it is valid), noted that a final vowel, if A, would have allowed ACADEMICS, CASED, and MEDICS.

Six is the limit here; the others are MECCAS, CADMIC (adjective derived from CADMIUM), AMICES (AMICE: "a furred hood or hooded cape with long ends hanging down in front, formerly worn by the clergy") and AMIDES (certain chemicals) / MEDIAS (maybe).

My selection: MEDICS


Round 8: Target 465 from 25 50 7 1 8 9

The standard method leads quickly to 465 = 9*50 + 8 + 7, and I also wrote down an alternative option of 465 = 8*(50 + 7) + 9.

My selection: 465 = 9*50 + 8 + 7


Round 9: GOON TRIBE

As someone whose work life (and home life, for that matter) revolves around computers, I'm deeply familiar with REBOOTING.

My selection: REBOOTING (1.9s)