NG 697

New game 697 is now available.

The re-run is episode 400; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: U M H A S S W I C

I had SHAM, SHAMUS (a term for a private investigator), SWIMS, CHIASMUS ("the reversal of the order in which two grammatical elements occur in a pair of parallel phrases"), and HASSIUM (element 108, for those like me who grew up before such things had official names).

CHIASMUS is the only eight.  The other sevens are CHIASMS (CHIASM: "Anatomy a crossing or decussation, especially that of the optic nerves at the base of the brain") and SUMACHS (SUMACH being a variant spelling of SUMAC).  There's a few other sixes, of which I'll just mention CHASMS and SCHWAS.

My selection: CHIASMUS


Round 2: P N O L D O X A E

I had POND, EXPAND, POLEAX (variant spelling of POLEAXE), LOANED, and NOODLE.

Six is the limit here; the others are LOOPED / POODLE / POOLED, PLANED, and DOOLAN ("NZ Colloquial an Irish Catholic; a Roman Catholic").

My selection: EXPAND


Round 3: Target 291 from 75 50 6 1 8 2

The standard method applies handily: 291 = 6*50 - 8 - 1.

My selection: 291 = 6*50 - 8 - 1


Round 4: S O T N G F I A I

I had TONS, TONGS, INGOTS, FASTING, and FOISTING.

FOISTING is the only eight.  The other sevens are SIFTING / FISTING (FIST as a verb: "to strike with the fist"), and AGONIST ("an actively contracting muscle considered in relation to its opposing muscle (the antagonist)").

My selection: FOISTING


Round 5: T A B G L E H I S

I had GABLE, BESTIAL / STABILE ("a sculpture or construction of sheet metal, wood, etc., similar in concept and design to a mobile, but motionless"), and rightly rejected BASELIGHT and SIGHTABLE.  After time I noted another seven of SLEIGHT.

Seven turns out to be the limit here; the others are GIBLETS, BLIGHTS, ALIGHTS, ABLEIST / ASTILBE (a type of plant) / ALBITES (ALBITE being a type of mineral), LIGATES (LIGATE: "to bind, as with a ligature; tie up, as a bleeding artery") / AIGLETS (AIGLET being a variant spelling of AGLET: "a metal tag at the end of a lace"), GABLETS (small gables), and HALITES (HALITE being another name for rock salt).

My selection: BESTIAL


Round 6: Target 374 from 50 4 7 5 8 7

The offsets for the standard method are 24 and 26; I made the first work with 374 = 7*(50 + 5) - 7 - 4 and 374 = 8*50 - (7 - 4)*7 - 5.

My selection: 374 = 7*(50 + 5) - 7 - 4


Round 7: F R L I P S N O I

I had SLIP, PRISON, and SIRLOIN.  After time I noted another seven of FLORINS.

Those are the only sevens, and the best to be done.

My selection: SIRLOIN


Round 8: Target 853 from 75 25 7 1 2 7

I tweaked my way up from 800 to get to one off with 854 = (7 + 1)*(75 + 25 + 7) - 2.  I thought for a moment I had found a better option, but it turned out to be two away with 851 = 75*(25 - 1)/2 - 7*7.

There turns out to be a unique solution to this.  The nearby 850 is 34*25, which is 68*25/2.  That observation leads to the answer: 853 = ((75 - 7)*25 + 7 - 1)/2.

My selection: 854 = (7 + 1)*(75 + 25 + 7) - 2  [1 off]
Best: 853 = ((75 - 7)*25 + 7 - 1)/2


Round 9: WOK LEGEND

The key to this one for me was considering -GE, and then -EDGE.

My selection: KNOWLEDGE (4.8s)