NG 131

New game 131 is now ready.


Round 1: O A P N G T N U R

An unpromising mix to start; I had PANG, GONNA, OUTRAN, and RAGOUT.

Six does seem to be the best to be done; the others are NOUGAT, PATRON / TARPON (a type of fish) / PARTON ("a hypothetical point-like object within protons, neutrons, etc."), UNTORN, and NATRON (a mineral).

My selection: RAGOUT


Round 2: F E R A L I D E D

Much better indeed, this lot.  I had FEAR, FLARE, wondered about FAILER (I had not checked up on it at this point from the previous game, but it's still not valid), FIDDLER, FIELDED, FIELDER, and DERAILED.

The other eights are DEADLIER and DEFILADE ("Military to shield from enemy fire or observation by using natural or artificial obstacles").  The Macquarie does not list REDIAL, so REDIALED does not get a look-in.

My selection: DERAILED


Round 3: Target 852 from 75 9 8 1 6 10

I originally wanted to make this as 10*86 - 8, but while trying to get that to work I found that 10*85 + 2 was much easier: 852 = (75 + 9 + 1)*10 + 8 - 6.

My selection: 852 = (75 + 9 + 1)*10 + 8 - 6


Round 4: R U H E C O K M H

I had OUCH, CHORE, OCKER, MOCKER, MUCKER, HOCKER (it is invalid, actually), and wondered about MOUCHER.  I was pretty sure I had seen MOUCH as a variant spelling of MOOCH (which it is), but since I know how the Macquarie works I was sure that MOUCHER would not be explicitly listed even though MOOCHER is.  If we were playing under the more relaxed approach to derived forms of variant spellings then MOUCHER would have been the way to go.  After time I added CHOKER as another six.

Six looks like the best to be done (the previous points about MOUCHER aside); the other is CHROME.

My selection: MOCKER


Round 5: O E O P D B S R S

I had DOPE, POOED, SOBERS, BOSSED, BROODS, and wondered about SPOORED.  In the end I decided against it, but it turns out to be valid (SPOOR as a verb: "to track by a spoor", where SPOOR as a noun is "a track or trail, especially that of a wild animal pursued as game").

The other sevens are the chemical SORBOSE and DESORBS (DESORB: "to release (a gas or other substance) from a condition of being adsorbed or absorbed").

My selection: BROODS
Best: SPOORED


Round 6: Target 705 from 50 1 8 9 2 5

Clearly a case for the standard method; I went with 705 = 2*(8 - 1)*50 + 5.  Then I considered the factorisation of 5*141 and found an alternative solution of 705 = (9*(8 + 2) + 1 + 50)*5.

My selection: 705 = 2*(8 - 1)*50 + 5


Round 7: O C M S R T D I A

I had MOST, RADIOS, and CAROTIDS.  If only that I had been an E then DEMOCRATS would have been available.

There's a decent spread of sevens here (I'll just mention SOMATIC / ATOMICS and DIATOMS) but the other eight is ACROTISM ("absence or weakness of the pulse").

My selection: CAROTIDS


Round 8: Target 856 from 50 5 7 9 1 10

My first instinct again was to the standard method, leading quickly to the solution 856 = (10 + 7)*50 + 5 + 1.  Then I saw the factorisation 8*107 and was able to make that work with 856 = (9 - 1)*(50 + 5*10 + 7).

My selection: 856 = (10 + 7)*50 + 5 + 1


Round 9: GURU HOODS

I ended up choosing this conundrum explicitly, after failing to solve the similar SOURBREAD within time.  SOURBREAD is not in the Macquarie but SOURDOUGH is.

My selection: [none -- conundrum chosen explicitly]
Best: SOURDOUGH