NG 690

New game 690 is now available.

The re-run is episode 393; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: E I L G S T A R S

I had ISLE, TILES, GAITERS, LARGEST, TIGRESS, GLISTERS (GLISTER: "to glisten; glitter"), GLASSIER, and REALISTS.  It's a shame that a fourth vowel was not taken, as the ensuing U would have given the full monty of LIGATURES.

REGALISTS is not listed, so eight is the best to be done.  The others are GRISTLES / GRITLESS, SALTIRES ("Heraldry an ordinary in the form of a Saint Andrew's Cross") / SALTIERS (SALTIER being a variant spelling of SALTIRE), and GLARIEST*.

My selection: REALISTS


Round 2: U C W P S B I O E

I had CUSP and COPIES.  After time I noted BICEPS as another six, and confirmed that SUBEPIC was not a word.

The other six is COUPES.  COWPIES is not listed, as I've mentioned before, but there is another seven: PICEOUS ("of, relating to, or resembling pitch").

My selection: COPIES
Best: PICEOUS


Round 3: Target 252 from 25 50 75 100 6 8

The easiest first approximation was 6*50 = 300, and the offset is 48; that led directly to 252 = 6*(50 - 8).

My selection: 252 = 6*(50 - 8)


Round 4: L N T M T U A A O

I had TAUNT and really wanted a second A to produce the element TANTALUM.  I was quite happy when it arrived.  Aside from that, I also noted OUTMAN / AMOUNT, MUTANT, and MULATTO.

It's not in the Macquarie, but some sources allow AUTOMAN as a term for a manufacturer of cars.  But the other seven that is listed is AUTOMAT ("an automatic apparatus for serving articles, especially food, to customers upon the dropping of the proper coins or tokens into a slot").

My selection: TANTALUM


Round 5: C T I N N O A S T

I had COIN, TONIC, ACTION, NATIONS, and CONTAINS.  After time I noted another seven of STANNIC ("of or containing tin [...]").

The other eights are SANCTION / CANONIST / ACTINONS (one meaning of ACTINON being as a synonym for ACTINIDE, any element with atomic number between 89 and 103), CONSTANT, and OSCITANT ("drowsy; inattentive") / TACTIONS (TACTION being an obsolete term for "touch; contact").

My selection: CONTAINS


Round 6: Target 740 from 25 75 50 10 6 10

The obvious approach is 740 = 10*75 - 10, but I could not resist looking for more complicated options, eventually finding 740 = 10*(50 + 10*75/25 - 6).

My selection: 740 = 10*75 - 10


Round 7: D L I S R K E A F

I had LIDS, DIRKS, FIELDS, DARKIES (DARKIE being a type of fish), and FLAKIER.

Seven is the best to be done; the others are FRISKED, DERAILS, SKIRLED (SKIRL: "Chiefly Scottish to sound loudly and shrilly (used especially of the bagpipes)"), DARKLES (DARKLE: "to appear dark; show indistinctly"), FLAKERS ("Colloquial unconscious; dead drunk"), and FARDELS (FARDEL being archaic for "a bundle; a burden").

My selection: DARKIES


Round 8: Target 671 from 50 75 9 9 8 10

Applying the standard method gets us to 675 easily enough, and needing to make a 4 with the remainder.  The key is to divide 50 by 10, and the resulting solution is 671 = 9*75 - (9 - 50/10).

My selection: 671 = 9*75 - (9 - 50/10)


Round 9: FEET SHINS

The useful fragment here is -NESS, and with an I the -INESS ending is usual.  In this case it leads to HEFTINESS in short order.

My selection: HEFTINESS (3.0s)