NG 692

New game 692 is now available.

The re-run is episode 395; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: E S D N G I O R E

I had SEND, DEIGNS, REDOING, SEEDING, IGNORED, noted that a final A instead of that E would have given the usual trio of full monties (ORGANISED / GRANDIOSE / ORGANDIES), REGIONS, rightly rejected REGIONED and REDOINGS, and ERODING.  It really felt like there was at least an eight here, but it was not until after time that I finally saw RESIGNED.

The other eights are DESIGNER / REDESIGN / REEDINGS (REEDING as a noun: "a small convex or semicylindrical moulding, resembling a reed"), INDORSEE, and ERINGOES (ERINGO is listed as a variant spelling of the herb ERYNGO).

My selection: IGNORED
Best: RESIGNED


Round 2: P R I B V O M O N

I had ROMP, MORON, MINOR, and decided to take a chance on IMPROV.  Alas, it is not valid.

There are some other fives, but the valid six in the mix is MORION ("an open helmet with a tall comb and a curved brim merging into a peak at front and back").

My selection: [invalid -- IMPROV]
Best: MORION


Round 3: Target 832 from 50 25 75 8 9 6

I was not able to apply the standard method here, but eventually found success with the factorisation 8*104 via 832 = 8*(50 + 6*9).

My selection: 832 = 8*(50 + 6*9)


Round 4: S M O C A D H O U

I had a dubious COAMS (not valid; COAMING is a noun, not a verb form), CHAOS, MOCHAS, and SMOOCH.

Six is the limit here; the others are MACHOS, MUCOSA ("a mucous membrane"), SMOUCH (variant spelling of SMOOCH), SUMACH (variant spelling of SUMAC), CHOOMS (CHOOM being colloquial for "an Englishman"), and MOHUAS (MOHUA being a type of bird found in New Zealand).

My selection: SMOOCH


Round 5: E O F T R I U L N

I had FORT, FETOR, FRUIT, FOULER, a slightly uncertain FLOUTER (valid), ROUTINE, and OUTLINE.  After time I noted other sevens of RETINOL and FORTUNE.

The eights are FLUORINE and FLUORITE.  The other sevens are LOFTIRE / TREFOIL, OUTLIER, FLUTIER, ELUTION, and FLEURON ("an ornamental flower-like design, used in printing, architecture, pastry-garnishing, etc.").

My selection: ROUTINE
Best: FLUORINE


Round 6: Target 165 from 8 7 1 9 2 4

The target is 11*15, leading easily to 165 = (9 + 2)*(7 + 8).  While looking for alternatives I considered working up from 144 and so found 165 = 2*8*9 + 7*(4 - 1).

My selection: 165 = (9 + 2)*(7 + 8)


Round 7: T O E A H B T N E

I had HATE, BATHE, NOTATE, and BENEATH.

BENEATH is the only seven.  The other sixes are ETHANE, BEATEN, BATTEN, and BOTNET ("a collection of zombie PCs infected with software specifically designed to create a network of systems for attack").

My selection: BENEATH


Round 8: Target 836 from 100 75 5 1 8 8

I wrote down the obvious fallback of 839 = 8*(100 + 5) - 1, then went looking for other options.  I got sidetracked for a while trying to make 900 - 8*8, but success came when I tried to work down from 875.  The offset is 39, which is 5*8 - 1, and a tweak rounds it out: 836 = 5*(100 + 75 - 8) + 1.

There's a few other solutions, but one that I like uses the factorisation 11*76 to get 836 = (75 + 1)*(8 + 8 - 5).

My selection: 836 = 5*(100 + 75 - 8) + 1


Round 9: STUNT DEER

I chose this after being presented with the similar INTRUSTED (also valid, but rather less common).

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