NG 101

So onto our second season, more or less.  Here's new game 101 to kick it off.


Round 1: B A H R O N E T I

I had ABHOR, BARON, BARONET, it's practically spelled out on the board), and BARITONE.  I also noted ANOTHER as another seven, and rejected HERBATION.  After time I noted OBTAINER as another eight, and wondered about INBREATH.  This latter is not valid, but the similar INBREATHE would have been; on the other hand, with those letters HIBERNATE is probably the easier nine to find.

We've had this exact mix before in episode 433, as it turns out.  The other eights are REOBTAIN and ANTIHERO.

The other sevens are HAIRNET, NIOBATE (a chemical), BORNITE (a mineral), TABORIN ("a small tabor", which is a type of drum), and REBOANT ("resounding loudly").

My selection: BARITONE


Round 2: N O P B I E N H E

An awkward mix to follow up.  I had OPINE, rejected PINBONE (MasterChef's influence to see it, but I've looked it up before and know it's not in the Macquarie yet), and also rejected PHONIE.  Two correct rejections, but five was the best I could do.

After time I saw the only seven of HIPBONE.  Vexing to see PINBONE but miss that.  Note that taking a sixth consonant would have given an S allowing the eights of HIPBONES or SHINBONE.

The sixes are PINENE ("[...] the principle constituent of oil of turpentine [...]"), BONNIE (variant spelling of BONNY, a Scottish term for "fine" in the adjective sense), and BENNIE ("Colloquial (mildly derogatory) a male, generally from an outer suburb of a city or town and from a lower socioeconomic background, viewed as uncultured").

The other fives are PENNE, PHONE, and BENNE (a type of sesame).

My selection: OPINE
Best: HIPBONE


Round 3: Target 975 from 100 75 50 9 9 4

The target is clearly 13*75 (clearly to people who have paid attention to the 75-times tables, anyway), so I started with 975 = (9 + 4)*75.  Then I wrote down the arguably easier 975 = 9*100 + 75.  Oh, well.

My selection: 975 = 9*100 + 75


Round 4: S O G G U L A K R

I had a dubious UGGS (not valid, although -- as one would hope! -- UGG BOOT is listed and UGGIES is acceptable), SLUG, wondered about SLUGGO (not valid, although SLUGGOS is: "a men's close-fitting, nylon, legless swimming costume"), SOLAR, GULAGS (GULAG: "a repressive prison"), and LARGOS (LARGO is a musical term; as an adjective is "slow; in a broad, dignified style" while as a noun it is "a largo movement").

Six turns out to be the best on offer; the others are ALGORS (ALGOR: "coldness or chill, especially at the onset of fever") and GORALS (GORAL: "any of various goat antelopes [...]").  The other potential answers of AGGROS and ARGOLS seem invalid to me, or at the least extremely dodgy.

My selection: GULAGS


Round 5: F O C S E L T I Y

I had CLOSE, CLOSET, briefly wondered about STOICLY but knew that the correct term was STOICALLY.  Fortunately, though, looking at that word got me on the right track to see SOCIETY for seven.  Further thinking after time turned up another seven of CITOLES (CITOLE being the possible name of a few different musical instruments, variously also known as a cittern or a kithara).

Those are the only sevens; there's a few sixes, of which I'll just list some common ones: COYEST, STIFLE / ITSELF, COSTLY, SOFTLY, and FEISTY.

My selection: SOCIETY


Round 6: Target 455 from 50 3 9 6 4 7

Obviously we can get close with 9*50, and the remaining adjustment is easy enough.  I chose a slightly less common approach to the final offset of 5 to get the solution 455 = 9*50 + 3*4 - 7.  Of course, I'd also noticed that the target is divisible by 5, and the cofactor of 91 is 7*13.  The factor of 7 is thus highlighted, and I found the alternative solution of 455 = (3*(9 - 4) + 50)*7.

My selection: 455 = 9*50 + 3*4 - 7


Round 7: P E L F U A C D I

I noted the -FUL and UP- fragments, but could not usefully use them.  I had FUEL, PLACED, and PLAICE (a type of fish).

After time I noted that the mix almost formed DUPLICATE, but although it is evocative there's no such word as DUPLIFACE.  Also that PELLUCID ("clear or limpid, as water") was nearly there but requires the double L.

There are two sevens, though.  The more findable was UPFIELD -- often I see the FIELD fragment when it's not useful, but I completely missed it this time -- and the less common is CLUPEID (any fish of a certain family "[...] including the herrings, sardines, menhaden, and shad").

There's almost another seven; a PECULIUM is "Roman Law property given by a paterfamilias to those subject to him, or by a master to a slave, to be treated as though the property of the recipient", but the Macquarie does not list the plural form PECULIA.  Oh, well.

My selection: PLACED
Best: UPFIELD


Round 8: Target 455 from 100 6 1 4 3 10

The same target as the previous round, which is amusing.  This time I went for 455 = (4 + 1)*(100 - 6 - 3), and left it at that.

My selection: 455 = (4 + 1)*(100 - 6 - 3)


Round 9: TINY AGILE

The -ING and -LY fragments are red herrings here, but I managed to focus on -ITY soon enough and found the answer of GENIALITY.

My selection: GENIALITY (6.3s)