NG 112

New game 112 is ready for your playing pleasure.


Round 1: G O C U H A L E P

I had OUCH, LAUGH, GAUCHE ("awkward; clumsy; tactless"), COUPLE, CUPOLA / COPULA ("something that connects or links together"), and thus COPULAE (one plural form of COPULA) for seven.

That was very much a case of a seven that I've learned through writing this blog (it looks like the first reference was back in episode 324), but the other sevens I had heard of: EPOCHAL and GOUACHE ("a method of painting with opaque watercolours").

The other sixes are PLOUGH, PLAGUE, GAUCHO ("a cowboy of the South American pampas [...]"), CHAPEL / PLEACH ("to plash or interweave (growing branches, vines, etc.), as for a hedge or arbour"), and LOUCHE ("sinister; disreputable; devious").

My selection: COPULAE


Round 2: S R M S U U A F E

I had SUMS, FARMS, FRAMES, wondered about FUMEURS (FUMEUR being French for a smoker, but there's other -EUR words that have been absorbed into English; not this one, though), and then rendered that irrelevant with MASSEUR (speaking of such words...).

The other two sevens are anagrams of MASSEUR: AMUSERS / ASSUMER.

My selection: MASSEUR


Round 3: Target 801 from 25 2 5 2 10 4

The target is divisible by 9, but with a few ways to make a 1 it looks tempting to try the standard method first.  I wrote down a fallback one-away 800 = (10 - 2)*4*25, then thinking about other ways to make 800 led me to a solution: 801 = (25 - 5)*4*10 + 2/2.

This turns out to be the only solution, in fact.

My selection: 801 = (25 - 5)*4*10 + 2/2


Round 4: K R P E S A I D T

I had PERK, PERKS, PRAISE, PRAISED, and TRAIPSED (TRAIPSE: "to walk so as to be, or having become, tired; trudge").  I also wondered about PARKSIDE, but was not surprised that it is not listed.

TRAIPSED seemes to be the only eight, and there's many sevens as would be expected.

My selection: TRAIPSED


Round 5: D A M E D I R C N

I had MADE, DIADEM, DANCER, and CARMINE.  After time I considered the -ANCE fragment and found RIDDANCE for eight.

RIDDANCE is the only eight; the other sevens are DRAINED / DANDIER, ADMIRED, CANDIED, and INARMED (INARM: "to hold in, or as in, the arms").

My selection: CARMINE


Round 6: Target 879 from 75 25 6 1 8 7

Getting close with 875 is a pretty clear first pass, so I wrote down 875 = 25*(6 - 1)*7 as four away and realised that the 8 could not help get closer.  I then got confused about various other approaches, missing a few helpful lines and emerging only with 884 = (75 - 8 + 1)*(7 + 6)... which is one further away.  Not a good use of time, as it turns out.

A little more thought -- I think I had the idea within time, actually, but then lost it -- would have let me make the 875 a little differently for one closer with 876 = (75 + (8 - 6)*25)*7 + 1.  But after time I found another use of that idea which would have got me to one away with 880 = (8*25 - 75)*7 + 6 - 1.

Of course, if 880 had been the goal then I might also have found -- as I did after time -- the alternative approach of 880 = ((6 - 1)*7 + 75)*8.  I really should have seen that within time; a very careless oversight.

It turns out that this round also has a unique solution, which I wasn't even close to finding.  The key point is that 879 - 25 is a multiple of 7; in fact it is 7*122, and 122 is 75 + 47, and so the solution that arises is 879 = (75 + 6*8 - 1)*7 + 25.  A very hard one!

My selection: 875 = 25*(6-1)*7  [4 off]
Best: 879 = (75 + 6*8 - 1)*7 + 25


Round 7: N O G E B A N E L

I had GONE, GENOA ("a large balloon jib set in a yacht in light winds"), BELONG, BANGLE, ENABLE, and ENNOBLE.  I briefly pondered ENNOBLAGE, but correctly rejected it.

ENNOBLE is the only seven; the other sixes are BEAGLE, BEGONE, NONAGE ("the period of legal minority"), LONGAN (a fruit somewhat similar to the lychee), and BALEEN (also known as whalebone).

My selection: ENNOBLE


Round 8: Target 140 from 75 50 2 8 10 5

A fairly easy numbers round after the previous two!  I started with 140 = 2*50 + 5*8, then bypassed the large numbers entirely with 140 = 5*(2*10 + 8).  Finally I observed that addition alone would suffice: 140 = 75 + 50 + 10 + 5.

My selection: 140 = 5*(2*10 + 8)


Round 9: GRUFF HILT

Two different fragments were useful here, the -IGHT one and -FUL.  The latter got me most directly to the answer of FRIGHTFUL.

My selection: FRIGHTFUL (4.4s)