NG 752

New game 752 is now available.

The re-run is episode 15; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: R V L A I D A T I

I had RIVAL, LARVA, LARIAT, wanted a final E for VALIDATE (or VARIETAL), and TRIVIAL.

Seven is the best to be done; the others are TRAVAIL and DATIVAL (adjective derived from DATIVE, a grammatical case).  The other sixes are TRIVIA, RADIAL, and ATRIAL / LATRIA ("(in Roman Catholic theology) that supreme worship which may be offered to God only").

My selection: TRIVIAL


Round 2: T S L O N A I T U

I had LOST, TALONS, TALIONS (TALION: "retaliation as authorised by law, especially when the punishment inflicted corresponds in kind and degree to the injury, as 'eye for eye'") / LATIONS (LATION being listed as an Aboriginal English term for "a relative"), was uncertain about LUTANIST (valid; it is a variant spelling of LUTENIST: "a player on the lute"), and TITANOUS ("containing trivalent titanium").  After time I confirmed that OUTSTAIN was not valid, and noted another seven of OUTSAIL.

LUTANIST and TITANOUS are the only eights.  The other sevens are STATION and OUTLAST.

My selection: TITANOUS


Round 3: Target 953 from 50 75 9 10 6 5

I wanted to keep the 9 and 6 aside for the final offset of 3, but was not able to get to 950 with the rest.  In the end I had to settle for one away with 954 = 6*75 + 10*50 + 9 - 5.

It turns out that the target is unreachable, so one away is the best to be done.

My selection: 954 = 6*75 + 10*50 + 9 - 5  [1 off]


Round 4: C S G D A A P O A

I had CADS and PAGODAS.  After time I noted PAGODA as a six, and CODAS as a five.

The other seven is CADAGAS (CADAGA being a variant spelling of CADAGI, a type of tree).  The other sixes are CADAGA and PAGODS (PAGOD being an archaic variant of PAGODA).

My selection: PAGODAS


Round 5: A N M I S A M O G

I had MAIN, MAINS, ANOSMIA ("loss of the sense of smell"), MIASMA, GAMMON, and GAMMONS.  After time I noted GAMINS as another six (GAMIN being a variant spelling of GAMINE: "a female street urchin").

There are two eights : AMMONIAS and ANGIOMAS (ANGIOMA: "a tumour consisting chiefly of dilated or newly formed blood or lymph vessels").  The other sevens are AMMONIA, ANGIOMA, AGNOSIA ("loss or impairment of the ability to recognise objects by any of the various senses"), MAGSMAN (a colloquial term for "a person who tells stories; raconteur"), SIAMANG (a type of gibbon) / MAGIANS* (maybe... MAGIAN is listed as an adjective derived from MAGI, both of which are given with capital letters; however, MAGI is allowed a lowercase variant, which hopefully would extend to MAGIAN).

My selection: ANOSMIA
Best: AMMONIAS


Round 6: Target 220 from 75 100 5 3 2 9

I first applied the standard method for 220 = 3*75 - 5, then found another option of 220 = (9 + 2)*100/5.

My selection: 220 = 3*75 - 5


Round 7: C D E E S E R E B

The missing E's finally make an appearance, and they come all at once.  I had CEDE, CEDES, SCREED ("a long speech or piece of writing; harangue") / CREEDS, BREEDS, and DECREES.  After time I noted RECEDES as another seven.

The remaining seven is SECEDER.

My selection: DECREES


Round 8: Target 582 from 50 25 10 5 8 8

The offsets for the standard method are 7 and 18, and with those numbers, 18 is clearly preferable.  The subtarget of 600 is also manageable, leading to 582 = 8*(50 + 25) - 10 - 8.

My selection: 582 = 8*(50 + 25) - 10 - 8


Round 9: TOO QUAINT

The -ATION ending is usually worth investigating when present, and the Q is likely to be at the beginning.  Putting those together soon led to the answer of QUOTATION.

My selection: QUOTATION (1.3s)