NG 151

New game 151 is now ready to play.


Round 1: P R T A I N U I C

I had TRAP, TAPIR, TRAIN, a slightly uncertain PURITAN (I was concerned it would only be capitalised), and a somewhat more uncertain PURITANIC.  I would have been confident in PURITANICAL (although the capital letter question would still be a mild concern) but was rather less so about the alternative form.  Still, a potential nine is not lightly turned down especially as I had so little to fall back on, so PURITANIC it was.

When I checked the dictionary the first entry I saw in the right section was PURITAN with a capital letter, followed by PURITANICAL in lowercase.  The capitalised PURITAN did not admit a lowercase variation, referring specifically to a subclass of Protestants.  However, further checking showed that there was another entry above that for PURITAN in lowercase: "someone who tries to be very pure or strict in moral and religious matters".

So the seven would have been good; fortunately the Macquarie does also list PURITANIC as a variant form of PURITANICAL, and I start the game on a high note with a full monty.  This form will not, alas, continue.

Some sources would allow URANITIC as an eight here, but not the Macquarie.  The other sevens are CURTAIN (nice spot by commenter Mike) and CANTRIP ("Originally Scottish a spell, as cast by a witch").  Note that PIRATIC is not valid with only PIRATICAL being accepted for that meaning.

My selection: PURITANIC


Round 2: G A R A T O E D N

I had AGAR, GROAT, and was hoping for a final R or T for one of GARROTED or GAROTTED.  No joy, so I continued with DONATE, GRANTED, and GRADATE.  After time I noted NEGATOR as another seven, and then several minutes later found DRAGONET as the eight.  I also observed that a final R would have allowed a second full monty of ARROGATED, or a B would have allowed ABROGATED.

DRAGONET is the only eight; the other sevens are GROANED, TANGOED, DRAGNET, GARDANT (variant spelling of GUARDANT: "Heraldry (of an animal) shown full face, with the body seen from the side"), and TANAGER (a type of bird).

My selection: GRANTED
Best: DRAGONET


Round 3: Target 814 from 50 25 10 4 2 1

Gah, I struggled here.  I noted that the target was near 825 = 11*75, and the offset of 11 means that the target is actually 11*74.  It's nice to spot a factorisation so quickly but in this case there was no good way to make the 74 with the remaining numbers.  I lost a bunch of time on that and other approaches as I searched for a solution, losing track of a one-away answer in the process.  In the end I had to scramble to get something down and finished up three away with 811 = 10*(50 + 25 + 4 + 2) + 1.

After time I managed to recall the one-away that I had seen: 813 = (25 - 10)*(50 + 4) + 2 + 1.  It turns out that this is the best possible; the target is unreachable and there's just this single way to get one off.

My selection: 811 = 10*(50 + 25 + 4 + 2) + 1  [3 off]
Best: 813 = (25 - 10)*(50 + 4) + 2 + 1  [1 off]


Round 4: E A H D M I C L X

So many Roman numerals -- we were just missing the V.  I had HEAD, AMIDE (a chemical term for derivatives of ammonia), CHIMED, EXCLAIM, and CLAIMED / DECIMAL / MEDICAL.  After time I wrote down the remaining anagram of those letters -- DECLAIM -- and then somehow that made me immediately see the eight of CLIMAXED.  Close again!

I also note that duplicating a couple of vowels would allow HEXADECIMAL, not that that has much use.  CLIMAXED is the only eight; the other seven is HEXADIC, the adjective derived from HEXAD ("a group or series of six").

My selection: EXCLAIM
Best: CLIMAXED


Round 5: O S D M I A N T R

I had MODS, ADIOS, MAIDS, RATIONS, and DIATOMS.  I noted that a final E would have allowed DOMINATES but the next vowel was an O so just as well.  After time I noted TSARDOM as another seven, and checked up on RANDOMIST (not valid) and ROMANIST (only listed capitalised, so not valid).

SAINTDOM is perhaps the most tempting potential eight, but it is not listed.  Instead the two eights in this mix are MORDANTS (MORDANT: "an acid or other corrosive substance used in etching to eat out the lines, etc."; it also has a verb sense) and INTRADOS ("the interior curve or surface of an arch or vault").

My selection: RATIONS
Best: MORDANTS


Round 6: Target 986 from 100 10 5 10 9 6

The offset of 14 is easy to come by, and the solution follows easily: 986 = 10*100 - 9 - 5.  I also observed the alternative solutions 986 = 9*(100 + 10) - 10 + 6 and 986 = (100 - 10/5)*10 + 6.

My selection: 986 = 10*100 - 9 - 5


Round 7: O C C S E E O N T

I had an unsure CEES (not valid; the Macquarie does not list out spellings of letters), SCONCE, and CENTOS (CENTO: "a poem composed wholly of quotations from other authors"; clearly sampling has a rich tradition behind it (obligatory link)).  I also noted that an A instead of one of those O's would have allowed COSECANT for eight.

I'd looked at the STONE fragment without success; then when entering the letters into my word finder I chose the order ECCOSTONE and immediately saw ECOTONES for eight (ECOTONE: "the transition zone between two plant communities, as that between rainforest and sclerophyll forest").

Indeed, ECOTONES is the only eight and ECOTONE is the only seven.  (As mentioned in NG 76, the Macquarie does not list CENOTE so CENOTES is not valid.)  The other six is COOEES.

My selection: SCONCE
Best: ECOTONES


Round 8: Target 914 from 50 2 4 3 10 9

Again a 14 is easy and so is the rest: 914 = 2*9*50 + 10 + 4.

My selection: 914 = 2*9*50 + 10 + 4


Round 9: NINE SNOBS

A certain amount of bemusement at all those N's, then I pulled out the -NESS fragment and bypassed the snare of BONINESS to find BONNINESS.

My selection: BONNINESS (4.9s)