NG 771

New game 771 is now available.

The re-run is episode 34; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: F A I H C N B T U

I had FINCH, FAITH, and was dubious about UNFAITH (not valid, although it is in the Scrabble list).  Somewhat after time I finally saw the six of TUNICA (synonymous with anatomical or similar meanings of TUNIC, such as "any loose membranous skin not formed from the epidermis").

Six is the best to be done here; the others are CANTHI (plural of CANTHUS: "the angle or corner on each side of the eye, formed by the junction of the upper and lower lids") and NAUTCH ("(in India) a dance performance by professional female dancers").

My selection: FAITH
Best: TUNICA


Round 2: F T S E I I I T L

I had a dubious FEST (not valid), TITLES, and FILETS (FILET being a variant spelling of FILLET).

There are sevens here, though: ELITIST, LEFTIST, and ILEITIS ("inflammation of the ileum"; the ileum is part of the small intestine).

My selection: TITLES
Best: FITLIEST* or ELITIST


Round 3: Target 734 from 75 25 100 3 9 9

The target is 9 away from 725, and that seems like it must be the way to go.  Unfortunately, I got hung up on starting with 9*75 and could not get to 725 that way.  I ended up with just one away via 733 = 9*(75 + 9 - 3) + 100/25.

Just after time I realised that working up from 625 was much better: 734 = 25*75/3 + 100 + 9.  There is essentially only one other solution, which is a tweak upward from 9*75 but not in the way I was fixated on: 734 = 9*(75 + 9) + 3 - 25.

My selection: 733 = 9*(75 + 9 - 3) + 100/25  [1 off]
Best: 734 = 25*75/3 + 100 + 9


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

I had TORY / TROY (both valid with lowercase meanings), TROD, RADON, NOTARY, and DONATOR.

The other sevens are TORNADO and DENTARY ("one of the pair of bones in the lower jaw of some vertebrates, usually bearing teeth").  But the eight is RATOONED (RATOON as a verb: "to cause to put forth ratoons"; as a noun it is "a sprout or shoot from the root of a plant (especially a sugar cane) after it has been cropped").

My selection: DONATOR
Best: RATOONED


Round 5: E K R W I G P R O

I had WIRE, WIPER, GRIPE, WORKER, PORKER, PORKIER*, and rightly rejected PREWORK.

PORKIER* is the only seven; the other sixes are REWORK, REGROW / GROWER, POKIER, ROPIER, GROPER, GORIER, and GRIPER.

My selection: PORKIER*


Round 6: Target 678 from 75 4 1 10 3 8

This one falls easily to the standard method: 678 = (8 + 1)*75 + 3.

My selection: 678 = (8 + 1)*75 + 3


Round 7: C C G A S D D A I

I had an uncertain SCAG (colloquial for heroin, it turns out), CADS, SAGA, ACIDS, and CADAGIS (CADAGI being a type of tree; it's turned up a few times here, but the earliest appears to be NG 616).

The other seven is CICADAS.  The other sixes are CICADA, CADAGI, CADDIS (listed as a valid term for a CADDIS WORM: "the larva of the caddis fly, used as fish bait"), and GADIDS (GADID being a type of fish).

My selection: CADAGIS


Round 8: Target 899 from 100 50 10 10 7 3

I got quite distracted by 399 being 7*57, which turned out not to be useful.  I wrote down the fallback option of 900 = 10*(100 - 10), and then flailed around searching for other approaches.  Success came when I realised that the offset of 51 was 3*17, leading to 899 = 10*100 - 50 - 3*(10 + 7).

There is only one other solution, using the same idea slightly differently: 899 = (10 + 7)*(50 - 3) + 100.

My selection: 899 = 10*100 - 50 - 3*(10 + 7)


Round 9: CIVET FEAR

I chose this after being presented with a similar unusable mix.  A bit obscure, I'm afraid.  The -ATIVE / -IVATE endings are often worth a look, but that probably won't help if you've not heard of FRICATIVE ("(of consonants) characterised by a noise produced by air being forced through an opening, as in f, v, s, etc.").

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