NG 730

New game 730 is now available.

The re-run is episode 443 (the last before the finals series); its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: L U G A G L B E E

I had GULAG, rightly rejected LUGGABLE, LEGAL, and ALLEGE.  After time I noted BEAGLE as another six.

Six is the limit here, with the others being LEAGUE, BELUGA, ULLAGE ("the amount by which the contents of a container, tank, ship, etc. fall short of filling it"), and BULLAE (plural of BULLA: "a seal attached to an official document, as a papal bull").

My selection: ALLEGE


Round 2: T I P E T D A I T

I had PETIT, PITTED, TATTED, and PITIED.

The other six is PATTED.

My selection: PITTED


Round 3: Target 225 from 75 9 10 9 5 7

Multiples of 25 are often easy, and this one was simple enough; I went with 225 = (10 - 7)*75.

My selection: 225 = (10 - 7)*75


Round 4: D T O E S A N A R

I had DOTE, DOTES, STONED, wished that the second A had been another E instead for RESONATED, TREASON / SENATOR, and ROASTED / TORSADE ("a twisted cord").  After time I noted DONATES as another seven.

Note that a second O instead of the A would have allowed TORNADOES for nine.  With the actual mix seven is the limit, the others being RODENTS / SNORTED, ATONERS, ANSATED (variant of ANSATE: "having a handle or handle-like part"), and DOATERS* (DOAT being listed as a variant spelling of DOTE, and DOTER is listed).

My selection: TREASON


Round 5: C L D I B U H O F

I had BUILD, CHILD, CLOUD, wondered if BUFOID might be a thing (BUFO being associated with toads), and the found the safe six of CUBOID.

The other sixes are BIFOLD ("of or relating to usually narrow doors which are hinged together and open by folding sideways") and FUCOID (a seaweed of the Fucus genus).

My selection: CUBOID


Round 6: Target 854 from 25 5 7 3 10 2

The target is near 25*34, but 35 was more formable than 34.  The offset from 15*35 is 21, and that highlighted the common factor of 7 and thus the factorisation 7*122.  The resulting solution was 854 = 7*(5*25 - 3).

My selection: 854 = 7*(5*25 - 3).


Round 7: E R U T I S S R S

I had TRUE, TIRES, SISTER, TISSUE, TISSUES, SISTERS, TRUSSES, and wondered about TRUSSERS but decided against it.  Alas, TRUSSERS is valid.

TRUSSERS is the only eight, and the best to be done.  The other sevens are TRUSSER, RUSSETS / TUSSERS (TUSSER being a variant spelling of TUSSORE, a type of silk), ISSUERS, RESISTS, RUSTIER, and SITUSES (SITUS: "position; situation").

My selection: TISSUES
Best: TRUSSERS


Round 8: Target 968 from 75 50 8 10 7 2

I noted the factorisation 8*121, which left me wanting to make a 4 from the other small numbers.  Happily that could be done with 2*7 - 10, giving me the solution 968 = 8*(75 + 50 + 10 - 2*7).  Then I reverted back to the standard method and found the easier 968 = (10 + 8)*50 + 75 - 7.

My selection: 968 = 8*(75 + 50 + 10 - 2*7)


Round 9: MEMBER CAT

Possibly prompted by a recent snack, the answer is CAMEMBERT.

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