NG 149

New game 149 is now ready.


Round 1: F N X I E W I P A

Not a promising set of letters to start with!  I had FINE, INFIX, and PIXIE.  I contemplated such unlikelihoods as PINWAX and PINEAX, but had to stay with five.

Five does look like the best to be done; the others are WAXEN and XENIA ("the immediate influence or effect on the seed or fruit by the pollen other than on the embryo").

My selection: PIXIE


Round 2: O R C T O E A S M

I had TORC, ACTOR, ACTORS, MAESTRO, and COASTER.  Just after time I saw COMATOSE for eight.

The other eight here is TEAROOMS.

The other sevens are TEAROOM, SCOOTER, COMATES, MOOTERS, OSTEOMA ("a tumour composed of osseous tissue"), and SCOTOMA ("a blind spot").

My selection: COASTER
Best: COMATOSE


Round 3: Target 650 from 25 75 1 1 5 3

With the 75 handy my first thought was to make this as 675 - 25, and that was manageable: 650 = (5 + 3 + 1)*75 - 25.  Then I considered the factorisation 25*26 and found the alternative solution 650 = (75/3 + 1)*25.

My selection: 650 = (75/3 + 1)*25


Round 4: N E H M H E P I A

I had MINE, PIEMAN, and PIEMEN.  After time I noted other sixes of PEAHEN and HEMPEN; I also saw NEHEMIAH, but of course that is not valid.  (Nor listed, although for some reason the Macquarie does list "Neh." as an abbreviation for it.)

The other sixes are MEANIE and HAEMIN ("a chlorid salt of haematin [...]").

My selection: PIEMAN


Round 5: E F L S A R E D C

I had SELF, FALSE, wondered about FERALS (it is acceptable), LASERED / LEADERS, DECLARES, and DEFACERS.

The other eight is FEDERALS (FEDERAL as a noun: "an advocate of federation or federalism").  I was a little surprised to find that RESCALED is not listed.

My selection: DECLARES


Round 6: Target 129 from 50 100 4 6 6 9

The single odd number can make this difficult; as usual in such cases we expect to add or subtracted it and the new targets are 120 or 138.  The former feels much friendlier, but it was the latter that was my route to success with 129 = 100 + 50 - 6 - 6 - 9.

My selection: 129 = 100 + 50 - 6 - 6 - 9


Round 7: N D S U R O O L O

I had DUNS, RUNS, ROUNDS, DOLOURS, and hoped for the final O which arrived to produce DOLOROUS.  After time I noted ODOROUS as another seven.

Those are the only eight and sevens.

My selection: DOLOROUS


Round 8: Target 932 from 50 25 100 4 5 5

I struggled with this one, and even getting two away felt like a victory.  I went with 930 = (5 + 4)*100 + 25 + 5 and was not able to better it after time.

It turns out that the target is unreachable, but it is possible to get one off.  The only way to do so is with 931 = ((100 + 4)*(50 - 5) - 25)/5.

My selection: 930 = (5 + 4)*100 + 25 + 5  [2 off]
Best: 931 = ((100 + 4)*(50 - 5) - 25)/5  [1 off]


Round 9: ZEALOT DUZ

Apologies for the non-word in the conundrum.  Without an I in the mix the pair of Z's are likely to go together; once I also extracted the OUT- fragment it was a short step to OUTDAZZLE.

My selection: OUTDAZZLE (3.5s)