NG 744

New game 744 is now available.


Round 1: M S D B E I D N A

I had MEDS, IMBEDS, MAIDENS, DISBAND, MADDENS, and SIDEBAND.  Alas, the Macquarie insists that SIDE BAND is two words only.

That leaves seven as the limit here.  The others are MEDIANS / SIDEMAN, MIDDENS, DEMANDS, DIADEMS, DANDIES, BADDIES, BANDIES / BASINED, and BANDIED.

My selection: [invalid -- SIDEBAND]
Best: MAIDENS


Round 2: E G A E F R N G T

I had AGREE, GRANGE, GARNET, wondered about GRANTEE (valid), and ENGAGER.

The other sevens are REAGENT, ENGRAFT, and FREEGAN ("a vegan who forages for food that is thrown away from supermarkets, restaurants, etc., or given away, or found in gardens, parks, etc., on the grounds that buying food makes one part of the consumer society").

My selection: ENGAGER


Round 3: Target 887 from 4 10 2 8 6 9

The "divide by the largest number" approach suggested trying to get near with something in the vicinity of 10*89.  I decided that 10*88 was better than 10*90, getting me to one away with 886 = 8*10*(9 + 2) + 6.  Then I considered that it was an odd target with only one odd number, so to get there exactly probably needs either 878 + 9 or 896 - 9.  The latter looked much more promising, as 896 has many factors: It is 8*112, which is 8*7*16.  Experimenting with that idea led me to 887 = 2*(6*10 - 4)*8 - 9.  Seen now is the alternative of 887 = (10 + 4)*(6 + 2)*8 - 9.

Those turn out to be the only solutions (aside from swapping 8 with 6 + 2).

My selection: 887 = 2*(6*10 - 4)*8 - 9


Round 4: U E C O S F T C T

I had CUES, FOCUS, OUTSET, and STUCCO.

The other sixes are CUTEST, FOETUS, OCTETS, and OFTEST.

My selection: STUCCO


Round 5: C I A W L I S E T

I had CLAW, CILIA, LACIEST / ELASTIC, LIAISE, WILIEST, and wondered about CILIATES.  I ended up deciding against it, but it is valid (CILIATE being a type of protozoan).

The safer eight here is SILICATE.  The other sevens are CILIATE, ITALICS, ELICITS, LATICES (plural of LATEX), LAICISE ("to deprive of clerical character or status"), and LAITIES*.

My selection: ELASTIC
Best: SILICATE


Round 6: Target 637 from 25 100 8 2 9 4

The target is 7*91, but I could not get that to work.  I turned to working down from 675, and the offset of 38 is 9*4 + 2.  Tweaking then gives a solution: 637 = 9*(100 - 25 - 4) - 2.  This approach could also be reached by aiming for 9*71 - 2.

My selection: 637 = 9*(100 - 25 - 4) - 2


Round 7: O M C M E R A V S

I had COME, COMER, CAMEO, COMMAS, and SCAMMER.

The other seven is SCREAMO ("a music genre of the early 1990s, derived from emo and hardcore punk").

My selection: SCAMMER


Round 8: Target 782 from 25 50 6 1 8 8

Aiming to get near, I started with (8 + 8)*50 = 800, and the rest just worked out: 782 = (8 + 8)*50 - 25 + 6 + 1.

My selection: 782 = (8 + 8)*50 - 25 + 6 + 1


Round 9: STEEL TAIL

I was skipping through potential conundrums pretty quickly by this stage, but I might well have not solved it regardless.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: SATELLITE