NG 99

New game 99 is now available for your playing pleasure.


Round 1: D A B M I E N S E

I had MAID, IMBED, MEDIA, wondered about BEDAMNS (not listed), DEMEANS, ANISEED, and then a pair that I've noted in passing several times: BEADSMEN (plural of BEADSMAN: "a man who prays for someone else, as a duty, and especially when paid for it") / BEDESMAN (variant spelling of BEADSMAN).  After time I noted some other sevens of MAIDENS / SIDEMAN ("a male member of a jazz band other than the leader") and SIDEMEN.

Those are the only eights; the other sevens are MEDIANS, MEANIES, BEANIES, BASEMEN, and BASINED / BANDIES (BANDIE being short for a BANDICOOT).

My selection: BEDESMAN


Round 2: G Z A E N T E F I

I had GAZE, AGENT, EATING, FAZING, and wondered about FEATING.  In the end I decided to risk it, and that was the wrong decision.  What had happened here is that I had recalled there was an unexpected inflected form of FEAT but gone the wrong way by hoping it was a verb.  Instead, it has an archaic adjective sense and so the single-syllable rule makes FEATER and FEATEST valid.  Anyway, that's the reasoning behind an embarrassingly invalid answer on my part.

After time I checked up on AGENTIZE, but not surprisingly it is not valid.

The other sixes are NEGATE, TEEING, FETING, FATING, FEEING (FEE as a verb: "to give a fee to"), and TENIAE (plural of TENIA, variant spelling of TAENIA which amongst other meanings is another name for a tapeworm).

There's another six which some sources would allow: ZAFTIG, meaning "(of a woman) having a full, rounded figure; plump".  That's a word of Yiddish origin, though, and the Macquarie tends to be poor on those.  That's the case here, as it is not listed.

But there is a seven!  It's the rather unusual TZIGANE, listed with a capital letter but the lower case form is often allowed: "relating to the Hungarian Romani people".

My selection: [invalid -- FEATING]


Round 3: Target 131 from 25 50 8 9 5 9

The various offsets were worth investigating, and I went unusually far away to find the nicely simple solution of 131 = 9*9 + 50.

My selection: 131 = 9*9 + 50


Round 4: R K O S U I S B P

I had SOUR, SOURS, and SPORKS.  After time I saw BUPKIS and BUPKISS (variant spelling of the same); that's another word of Yiddish origin, in this case meaning "absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance".  But, as before, the Macquarie does not list it.

The other six is SIRUPS (SIRUP being an American variation of SYRUP).

Update: I missed it (as did the wordlist that I use), but commenter Sam pointed out SPRUIKS for seven (and thus SPRUIK as another six).

My selection: SPORKS


Round 5: M N A A N W U C E

I had MANA ("authority; influence; power; prestige"), MANNA ("divine or spiritual food"), and NUANCE.

The other six here is ACUMEN.  The other fives are MACAW, UNMAN, CANNA (a type of plant), and NUMEN ("a deity; a divine power or spirit").

My selection: NUANCE


Round 6: Target 108 from 75 6 9 8 2 4

A low target with familiar factors; I wrote down 108 = 2*6*9 and left it at that.

My selection: 108 = 2*6*9


Round 7: L E T M A C T O S

I had MELT, CAMEL, CATTLE, CALMEST, MOTTLES, and correctly rejected COASTLET.  After time I noted COSTATE ("bearing ribs") as another seven.

There are some eights here after all (it felt like there would be): CALOTTES (CALOTTE: "Architecture a small dome in a low ceiling") and MATELOTS (MATELOT being colloquial for "a sailor").

The other sevens are CALOTTE, MATELOT, LOCATES / LACTOSE / TALCOSE ("containing, or composed largely of, talc"), MALTOSE, COMATES, TOMCATS, and CAMLETS (CAMLET: "a durable waterproof cloth used for cloaks, etc." and "apparel made of this material").

My selection: CALMEST


Round 8: Target 367 from 50 25 75 5 3 1

The target is near 375, which is one of the more formable low-range multiples of 25.  The offset is 8, which is 5 + 3, so tweaking options abound; I went with 367 = 5*(75 - 1) - 3.  Then I noted that a non-tweaked version existed: 367 = 5*75 - (3 + 1)*50/25.

My selection: 367 = 5*(75 - 1) - 3


Round 9: TRAIN TYPE

With the Y around an ending of -ARY or -ITY seemed likely, and the latter guided me to PATERNITY in short order.

My selection: PATERNITY (1.7s)