NG 727

New game 727 is now available.

The re-run is episode 440; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: U A R I S O R T R

I had AIRS, ROARS, AURIST (another term for OTOLOGIST: "a physician specialising in diseases of the ear"), and SAUTOIR ("a long ribbon, chain, beaded band, or the like, worn about the neck").

The other seven is OURARIS (OURARI being another term for CURARE).  The other sixes are OURARI, RATIOS / AORIST (a Greek verb tense), SUITOR, and ROSTRA (plural of ROSTRUM).

My selection: SAUTOIR


Round 2: D U J G C I E E T

I had JUDGE, JUICED, and DECEIT.  After time I noted DEJECT and DUGITE (a type of snake) as other sixes.

Those turn out to be all the sixes, and the best to be done.

My selection: DECEIT


Round 3: Target 968 from 100 25 2 7 5 10

The offset for the standard method is 7, which is handy.  I went with 968 = 10*100 - 25 - 7.

My selection: 968 = 10*100 - 25 - 7


Round 4: O O P I N E R H S

I had PION, OPINE, was dubious about OPINER (not valid), HEROINS, ONSHORE, and EROSION.  After time I checked up on SNOOPIER* (SNOOPY is listed, but not SNOOPIER), and POORISH (not valid), and noted PHONIES as another seven.

The eights here are POISONER (aside from the obvious meaning, it is also colloquial for "a cook") / SPOONIER (SPOONY: "foolishly or sentimentally amorous").

My selection: EROSION
Best: POISONER


Round 5: A U M I T E C S L

I had TIME, ACETUM ("a pharmaceutical preparation made with vinegar or dilute acetic acid as the solvent"), SIMULATE, CAESIUM, MUSICAL, and CALUMETS (CALUMET: "a long, ornamented tobacco pipe used by northern Native Americans on ceremonial occasions, especially in token of peace") / MUSCATEL.

Some sources would allow SALICETUM (a group of willow trees) for nine, but it's not in the Macquarie.  That leaves eight as the best, with the others being CLIMATES / CLEMATIS (a type of plant), MUSICALE ("a social gathering with a program of musical entertainment"), and AUTECISM (American variant of AUTOECISM: "the development of the entire life cycle of a parasitic fungus on a single host or group of hosts").

My selection: SIMULATE


Round 6: Target 325 from 9 10 8 3 1 6

The target is 13*25, but that seems difficult to make work.  Splitting it up as 5*65 works better, although I did not see that at the time.  Instead I looked for results on dividing by the larger of the available small numbers.  10*32 was not too promising, but 9*36 was only one away, and shortly led to 325 = 9*(3*10 + 6) + 1.

My selection: 325 = 9*(3*10 + 6) + 1


Round 7: O F S A X Z I C F

Good grief, what a horror of a mix.  I had SOFA and FIASCO.

FIASCO is the only six.  The fives are AFFIX, SCOFF, COIFS, CAFFS (CAFF being colloquial for "a cafe"), ZIFFS (ZIFF being colloquial for "a beard, especially a short one"), and AZOIC ("relating to geological time before life appeared").

My selection: FIASCO


Round 8: Target 444 from 25 50 9 4 3 6

I went with a prosaic 444 = 9*50 - 6.

My selection: 444 = 9*50 - 6


Round 9: INGLE BILL

The -ING is particularly easy to pull out in this form, and it is a short step to LIBELLING.

My selection: LIBELLING (2.0s)