NG 688

New game 688 is now available.

The re-run is episode 391; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: O L C I U N H M O

I had COIL, UNCOIL, MOULIN ("a nearly vertical shaft or cavity worn in a glacier by surface water falling through a crack in the ice"), and COLUMN.  After time I noted UNCOOL as another six.

The remaining sixes are HOLMIC (adjective derived from the element HOLMIUM) and CONIUM (a type of plant).  Some other sources would allow HOLONIC (adjective derived from HOLON), but it's not in the Macquarie so six is the limit.

My selection: COLUMN


Round 2: R S G A M E A N T

I had RAGS, GRAMS, GAMERS, wondered about MEGARAS (not valid; MEGARA would be the notional plural of MEGARON ("the main hall of an ancient Mycenaean house [...]"), but that plural form is not listed, making MEGARAS doubly wrong), was dubious about STAGEMAN (not valid), MEGASTAR, and MAGNATES / MAGENTAS.  After time I noted other eights of GARMENTS and TANGRAMS.

But there is a nine to be had: MAGNETARS (MAGNETAR: "a neutron star with a super-strong magnetic field which slows the star's rotation and causes starquakes").  The remaining eights are MAGNETAR, MANAGERS, and TANAGERS (TANAGER being a type of bird).  NAMETAGS is not valid, surprisingly -- NAME TAG is only listed as two words.

My selection: MAGNATES
Best: MAGNETARS


Round 3: Target 581 from 6 5 10 6 2 7

An approach which is often useful with the ratpacks is to divide by the largest number, and try to approximate the new subtarget, then repeat as necessary.  In this case, the new subtarget after dividing by 10 is 58; dividing by 7 gives approximately 8, which can be made.  The offset is 21, which I noticed was also divisible by 7, and so that highlighted the factorisation 7*83.

With only one odd number (5) in the remaining numbers, it was clear that 83 should be made as either 88 - 5 or 78 + 5.  78 is divisible by 6 (it is 6*13), so that was the preferred option.  It could have been made as 6*(10 + 2) + 6, leading to 581 = 7*(6*(10 + 2) + 6 + 5), but instead I went with 581 = ((10 + 6/2)*6 + 5)*7.

Still within time, I looked at other options.  58 is also near 60, giving an approximation of 2*5*6*10 = 600.  The offset is 19 and plenty of tweaking options available.  It happily works, yielding 581 = 2*(5*6*10 - 6) - 7.

My selection: 581 = ((10 + 6/2)*6 + 5)*7


Round 4: W X U E P S E T A

Yuck, not a well-meshing set at all.  I had PEWS, WEEPS, TAUPES, and was unsure about EXPATS (valid; my concern had been that it might have been hyphenated).  After time I noted another six of PESETA.

The remaining sixes are APEXES and EXEATS (EXEAT: "formal leave of absence, especially permission for a student to be absent from a school or institution").

My selection: TAUPES


Round 5: E R K P D L C E I

I had PERK, DRECK, PECKER, PICKLED, and rightly rejected REPICKLED and REPICKED.  Just after time I realised that I should have extended PICKLED to PRICKLED.

The other eight is PICKEREL ("any of various species of pike [...]").  The other sevens are PRICKLE, PRICKED, REPLIED, PIERCED, CLERKED, and PEDICLE ("a small stalk or stalklike support") / PEDICEL ("a small stalk").

My selection: PICKLED
Best: PRICKLED


Round 6: Target 811 from 25 7 6 7 1 3

It's a tough target, with those small numbers giving surprisingly little wriggle room.  The nearby cofactors to multiply 25 by are 32 and 33.  The best I could manage within time was to get to 7 away with 818 = (6*(7 - 1) - 3)*25 - 7.

After time I noticed that the target was 1 off a multiple of 7: 7*116 - 1 = 811.  I was not quite able to make that work, but it did get me to just one off with 812 = (3*25 + 6*7 - 1)*7.

If trying to get to one off, the option of 810 + 1 would be superficially more attractive.  It turns out to lead to the only solution, although it would be an exceptional effort to find it: 811 = (7*6 + 3)*(25 - 7) + 1.

My selection: 818 = (6*(7 - 1) - 3)*25 - 7  [7 off]
Best: 811 = (7*6 + 3)*(25 - 7) + 1


Round 7: N C E S N E T A E

I had SCENE, NASCENT, and SENTENCE.

The other eight is CANTEENS.  The other sevens are CANTEEN, NEATENS, TENACES, and CETANES (CETANE being an alkene found in petroleum).

My selection: SENTENCE


Round 8: Target 561 from 25 75 2 10 8 1

I went for the option of 8*70 + 1, giving 561 = 8*(75 - 10/2) + 1.  Seen just now is the alternative of 561 = 8*75 - 2*25 + 10 + 1.

My selection: 561 = 8*(75 - 10/2) + 1


Round 9: GRUNGE TIT

The -ING fragment proves useful again, giving GUTTERING.

My selection: GUTTERING (1.9s)