NG 687

New game 687 is now available.

The re-run is episode 390; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: U L I N C A M R I

I had UNCIAL ("relating to an inch or an ounce") and CRIMINAL.

CRIMINAL is the only eight.  The sevens are CRANIUM and RUMINAL (adjective derived from RUMEN ("the first stomach of ruminant animals [...]").

My selection: CRIMINAL


Round 2: E D S O C N D I A

I had DOES, CODES, SECOND, SECONDI (plural of SECONDO: "the second or lower part in a duet, especially in piano duets"), CADDIES, DEACONS, and DIOCESAN.

The other eights are ANODISED / ADENOIDS and OCEANIDS (OCEANID: "an ocean nymph").  The other sevens are OCEANID, DANDIES, CANDIES / INCASED (INCASE being a variant spelling of ENCASE), CANDIED, ADENOID, CODEINS (CODEIN being a variant spelling of CODEINE), CODEIAS (CODEIA also being a variant spelling of CODEINE), ACINOSE ("consisting of acini", which are (in one definition) the small parts of a compound fruit like a blackberry or mulberry), NODDIES (NODDIE: "NZ Railways a four-wheeled barrow or small wagon for passenger luggage"), and ACNODES (ACNODE: "Geometry a node [...] at which the tangents to two curves are imaginary and distinct").

My selection: DIOCESAN


Round 3: Target 809 from 50 100 75 7 3 1

I flailed around for a bit, and the best I could manage was 810 = (7 + 3)*(75 + 1) + 50.  Later checking confirmed that this was the best that could be done.

My selection: 810 = (7 + 3)*(75 + 1) + 50  [1 off]


Round 4: E O W R M F S G I

I had WORE, MOWER, MOWERS, FORGES, and rightly rejected MISGOER / OGREISM.

Six is the best to be done.  The others are EGOISM, FOGIES, GRIEFS, GOFERS, GRIMES, ORGIES, MOIRES (MOIRE: "a watered fabric, as of silk or wool") / ISOMER / RIMOSE ("full of chinks or crevices"), and FORMES (FORME: "an assemblage of type and blocks locked up in the chase preparatory to printing").

My selection: FORGES


Round 5: P U S A B R N E S

I had BAPS, PUBS, BURPS, SUPERB, and URBANE.  I'd hoped for a final M for PENUMBRAS, but no such luck.  After time I noted PAUSES as another six, and then looked up PAUSERS and found that it was valid.

The other sevens are UPBEARS and ABUSERS / SURBASE ("a moulding above a base, as that immediately above a skirting board, the crowning moulding of a pedestal, etc.").

My selection: SUPERB
Best: PAUSERS


Round 6: Target 486 from 50 75 8 5 7 3

I considered a few options, but the offset for the standard method is 11, which is 8 + 3.  Putting those aside, the aim was to get to 475 with the remaining numbers, and that turned out to be feasible.  The resulting solution is 486 = 7*75 - 50 + 8 + 3.

My selection: 486 = 7*75 - 50 + 8 + 3


Round 7: T T I D O G E A F

I had DITTO and GODETIA.  I also recalled that FAGOT was a variant spelling of FAGGOT, which has a verb sense of "to bind or make into a faggot" (in this context, "a bundle of sticks, twigs, or small branches, etc., bound together, used for fuel [...]"), and so wondered if FAGOTTED might be all right.  But that spelling is not explicitly listed, so it must be considered to be FAGOTED.

GODETIA and FAGOTED are the only sevens.  Some sources would allow FAGOTTI as the plural of FAGOTTO (another name for a bassoon), but the Macquarie does not list it.

My selection: GODETIA


Round 8: Target 342 from 75 50 25 10 2 1

I recognised the target as 18*19, but that's hard to use.  My first attempt was to get near with 7*50, and tweaking that let me get to one away with 343 = (10 - 75/25)*(50 - 1).  Playing around with the offset of 8 as 10 - 2, I realised that I could tweak that to an answer: 342 = (10 - 2)*(50 - 1) - (75 - 25).

After time I considered the option of 2*171, and managed to get that to work with 342 = 2*((50/25)*(75 + 10) + 1).  Those turn out to be essentially the only two solutions.

My selection: 342 = (10 - 2)*(50 - 1) - (75 - 25)


Round 9: BEHIND DUO

The -OUND fragment is often worth a look where present, and it certainly pays off here, giving HIDEBOUND ("narrow and rigid in opinion").

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