NG 130

New game 130 is now available.


Round 1: T M H S I O A C A

I had SMITH, HOIST, CHAOS, briefly pondered CHAOTISM (it's not valid), STOMACH, SOMATIC ("of the body; bodily; physical") / ATOMICS, and flirted with MACHIATOS but was sure that the double C was required.  After time I noted another seven of CHIASMA ("Biology a crossing point in conjugating chromosomes").

That fourth vowel was a shame here; a sixth consonant would have been an S allowing MASOCHIST for nine.

Seven seems to be the best to be done; the other is CHAMOIS.

My selection: STOMACH


Round 2: S E E N O I S T E

I had SEEN, NOISE, NOISES, TENSES, and NOSIEST.  I also wondered about TEENIES, but TEENY is only listed as an adjective so it is not valid.

The other seven is EOSINES (EOSINE being a variant spelling of EOSIN: "any of a variety of [rose red]-like dyes").  But there's also an eight here: ESSONITE is a variant spelling of HESSONITE ("a yellowish or brownish variety of garnet [...]").

My selection: NOSIEST
Best: ESSONITE


Round 3: Target 241 from 100 1 5 6 8 9

The standard method was tempting even without a 50 handy, as the offset of 9 was available.  That meant needing to divide by 2 and fortunately that all worked out with the solution 241 = 5*100/(8 - 6) - 9.  Then I considered the alternative of 240 + 1 and that let me avoid the large numbers entirely with 241 = 5*6*8 + 1.

My selection: 241 = 5*6*8 + 1


Round 4: S L F R O I A P E

I had FOILS, SAILOR, an uncertain FAILERS (it is not valid), SPOILER, SOAPIER, and then was pleased to find the eight of FORESAIL ("the principal sail on the foremast of a schooner").  After time I noted down PAROLES as another seven.

There are other eights: PROFILES and POLARISE / PELORIAS (PELORIA: "regularity of structure occurring abnormally in flowers normally irregular").

The other sevens are PROFILE, PELORIA, LOAFERS / SAFROLE (a chemical "[...] used for flavouring and in perfumery"), PILFERS, REPOSAL, and FELSPAR ("any of a group of minerals [...] characterised by two cleavages at nearly right angles [...]").

My selection: FORESAIL


Round 5: R T N N E U E I T

I had TERN, INTERN, UTERINE, lamented that one of those E's was not an O for the musical direction RITENUTO, then NUTTIER and NUTRIENT for eight.

The other eights are INTERNET (not a noun -- that is only as part of the phrase THE INTERNET -- but an adjective) / RENITENT ("resisting pressure; resistant").

The other sevens are REUNITE / RETINUE and INTERNE (variant spelling of INTERN in the medical sense).

My selection: NUTRIENT


Round 6: Target 751 from 100 7 6 9 2 3

Working up from 700 is clearly tempting and leaves the 7 available for tweaking.  I started with 751 = 7*100 + 6*9 - 3, then saved a number with a tweak and 751 = 7*(100 + 6) + 9.

My selection: 751 = 7*(100 + 6) + 9


Round 7: R R D E A A S M W

I had READ, DREAR, READS, AWARDS, wondered about AWARDERS, REWARDS / DRAWERS, SEAWARD, and SWARMED.  I decided to chance AWARDERS and that turned out to be the correct decision; I may have been helped by commenter Victor finding this in NG 64.

AWARDERS looks like the only eight; the other sevens are AWARDER, REDRAWS / WARDERS, and WARMERS / SWARMER.

My selection: AWARDERS


Round 8: Target 156 from 75 5 2 2 1 3

A fairly straightforward one, with many options once one starts with 2*75.  I went with the tweaked option of 156 = 2*(75 + 3) and left it at that.

My selection: 156 = 2*(75 + 3)


Round 9: WROTE FLOP

I pulled out POWER as a fragment early on, and while that was not correct it set me on the right path to find the answer of FLOWERPOT.

My selection: FLOWERPOT (5.6s)