NG 111

New game 111 is now available.  Lift your feet.


Round 1: L U G M I W A H D

An ill-fitting assortment to start.  I had GLUM, and was stuck for quite a while (relatively speaking) to even find a five, eventually emerging with MIAUL (one of the variant spellings of MEOW) and then a little later LAUGH.  After time I noted two other fives of HUMID and MULGA (a type of acacia, and I hope I'm not the only one who recalls Mulga Bill).

There is an obscure six to be had, although it turns out I mentioned it back in episode 14: HAMULI is the plural form of HAMULUS ("a small hook or hooklike process, as at the end of a bone").

There are various other fives, although I've not checked the validity of all of them.  The clearly acceptable one is GUILD.

My selection: LAUGH
Best: HAMULI


Round 2: H T R I O I D F N

Another not-so-nice mix.  I had RIOT, THIRD, FROTH, IDIOT, FRONT, and DRIFT.  I also wondered about INDRIFT, which seemed like it might be a cricketing term, but did not risk it.  That was the right decision, as it is not listed.  While checking up on it I did see another five of INDRI, which is a type of lemur.  After time I thought I had found a six in the shape of FORINT (Chambers: "the monetary unit of Hungary since 1946"), but for some reason the Macquarie does not list it.  I'd have chanced it if I'd seen it within time, so it was fortunate for me that I did not.

There are some sixes, though, with the easiest being FINITO.  The other two are NITRID (variant spelling of NITRIDE) and TRIFID ("cleft into three parts or lobes").

Again, there's many other fives with some of the more common ones being NORTH / THORN, RHINO, FROND, FORTH, and INTRO.

My selection: THIRD
Best: FINITO


Round 3: Target 220 from 50 1 5 6 2 4

I started with 220 = 4*(50 + 5), then wondered if I could do it in small numbers alone.  There were already factors of 4 and 5, which just left making 11 from the rest and that happily worked out to give me the alternative solution 220 = 4*5*(2*6 - 1).

My selection: 220 = 4*5*(2*6 - 1)


Round 4: Q S G O A O A N L

Another unpromising set, and still no E in sight.  I had SAGO, QANGOS (QANGO being a variant spelling of QUANGO: "a government body or organisation with independent powers; statutory authority"; I think I have to thank Yes, Minister for putting this word into my vocabulary), and LAGOONS.

That does seem to be the only seven; the other sixes are LAGOON, SALOON, SLOGAN, LOGONS, ANALOG, and LAGANS (LAGAN: "wreckage or goods from a ship lying on the seabed.  The goods are sometimes attached to a buoy, etc., to aid recovery").

My selection: LAGOONS


Round 5: S I T E D O C M O

I had SITE, DIETS, COSTED, DOMESTIC, and MOODIEST.  After time I noted down SITCOM, DOTCOMS (DOTCOM: "a company trading over the internet"), and SODOMITE.

The other potential eight here is DEMOTICS, although I'd be reluctant to allow it; DEMOTIC as a noun is "the demotic script of ancient Egypt".  Put that way it sounds like there's only one so a plural form should not be acceptable.  (I'll note that DEMOTICS does appear in Scrabble lists but I believe that is as the plural form of a sense the Macquarie does not list: A linguistic term for "language as spoken by the common people".)

The other sevens are MEDICOS, SCOOTED, COOTIES, OSMOTIC, COEDITS / CESTOID ("(of worms) ribbon-like"), OSTEOID ("bonelike"), MODISTE ("a maker of or dealer in articles of fashionable attire, especially women's dresses, millinery, etc."), and COMEDOS (COMEDO being another term for a blackhead, in the sense of "a small black-tipped, fatty mass in a follicle, especially of the face"; it has another plural form of COMEDONES, incidentally).

My selection: DOMESTIC


Round 6: Target 785 from 100 4 2 5 4 6

The standard method was clearly worth investigating, and the rest of the numbers fell easily into place to give 785 = 2*4*100 - 6 - 5 - 4.  Note that making the 8 another way would have still let things work, although a touch more thought might be needed: 785 = (4 + 4)*100 - 5*6/2.

There's a few variations on the idea -- with an assortment of tweaks -- and one genuinely new approach: 785 = ((100 + 2)*6/4 + 4)*5.

My selection: 785 = 2*4*100 - 6 - 5 -4


Round 7: C E B A C O S S E

I had COCA and CEASES.  I also wrote down BÉCASSE but did not know where I dragged that from and decided against it.  Just as well; it must have been MasterChef's influence that made me think of it, as it used to be a restaurant.

Six seems to be the limit here, with the others being ACCESS and COSECS / SECCOS (SECCO as a noun being a variant spelling of SECKO: "Colloquial a sexual pervert").  Some word lists suggest BOCCES also, but the Macquarie only lists BOCCE as the game, and that does not seem a pluralisable sense to me.

My selection: CEASES


Round 8: Target 673 from 75 3 8 2 7 10

The standard method is clearly appropriate, with the target being 9*75 - 2.  So it's just a question of making that 9 and a little thought will get one there: 673 = (10 + 7 - 8)*75 - 2.  Then I looked at other approaches, with working up from 600 also turning out to be feasible: 673 = 8*75 + 7*10 + 3.  My final solution within time used the 10 as a multiplier to get 673 = (75 - 8)*10 + 3.

Just now I have noticed that working down from 750 is also pretty straightforward: 673 = 10*75 - 7*(8 + 3).

My selection: 673 = (75 - 8)*10 + 3


Round 9: OIL COYPUS

Yes, that was intended to be COYPUS, not COY PUS; apologies if anyone was thrown off by that.  The -LY fragment is provocative, but it was the vowels that made me look at the -CIOUS fragment.  That was not quite right, but it got me mostly there and then I fond COPIOUSLY a little after.

My selection: COPIOUSLY (5.6s)