NG 157

New game 157 is now available.


Round 1: G C T T A E E L A

I had TACT, LEGATE, CATTLE, and was just starting to think that the duplication had gotten the better of me when I found ACETATE for seven.

The other sevens are LACTATE, GALETTE ("a flat round pastry"), and GALEATE ("having a galea", where GALEA is defined as "any part of the calyx or corolla in the form of a helmet, as the upper lip of the perianth of the greenhood orchid").

My selection: ACETATE


Round 2: A I I N M F P T E

I had MAIN and FAMINE.  A tough mix!

This was the round that stopped me having a maximal game; the sevens are TIMPANI ("a set of kettledrums") and INTIMAE (plural of INTIMA: "the innermost membrane or lining of some organ or part, especially that of an artery, vein, or lymphatic").

My selection: FAMINE
Best: TIMPANI


Round 3: Target 259 from 7 3 5 9 7 5

I immediately recognised the target as 7*37, and some fiddling produced the solution 259 = (7*5 + 5 - 3)*7.  Looking at nearby numbers I noticed that the target was also 252 + 7, and 252 has many small factors; the resulting solution was 259 = (5*5 + 3)*9 + 7.

Seen while writing this up is the more standard approach of 259 = 5*5*(7 + 3) + 9.

My selection: 259 = (7*5 + 5 - 3)*7


Round 4: E E I N T H F U I

I had TINE, ETHINE (another name for acetylene), THIEF, THEINE ("caffeine found in tea"), and FINITE.

The other six is HEINIE, listed as an American colloquialism for the buttocks.

My selection: FINITE


Round 5: G N N W O E I U E

I had GOWN, OWNING, and was not able to extend the -ING fragment to seven.  I was, however, rather pleased to spot a seven of INGENUE ("the part of an ingenuous woman, especially as represented on the stage").  Afterwards I looked at the word and realised that GENUINE was perhaps the more findable anagram of it.

The other seven is WEENING (WEEN being an archaic verb meaning "to think or suppose").

My selection: INGENUE


Round 6: Target 593 from 75 100 2 10 3 4

Making this as 600 - 7 seems clearly the way to go, and there's a few ways to proceed.  I went with 593 = (10 - 2)*75 - 4 - 3 at first and continued with 593 = 2*4*75 - (10 - 3).

My selection: 593 = (10 - 2)*75 - 4 - 3


Round 7: C L H S A O U R P

I had CLASH, wondered about OSCULAR (valid: "related to the mouth or kissing") but somehow did not think of OCULARS (OCULAR: "the eyepiece of an optical instrument"), COPULAR (adjective derived from COPULA: "something that connects or links together"), CUPOLAS, and PARLOUS ("perilous; dangerous").

The other sevens are COPULAS / SCOPULA ("a small tuft of hairs, as on the feet of some spiders"), CHORALS / SCHOLAR, CAROLUS ("any of various coins issued under monarchs named Charles [...]"), and the lovely AUROCHS ("a large wild European bovine, Bos primigenius, domesticated during the Stone Age, now extinct").

My selection: COPULAR


Round 8: Target 385 from 100 50 4 9 7 2

I spotted the factorisation 11*35 early on, which is also 7*55 and so found 385 = 7*(50 + 9 - 4).  Then I considered descent from 400 and tweaked my way to 385 = 4*(100 - 2) - 7.

My selection: 385 = 7*(50 + 9 - 4)


Round 9: RUSTS VICE

I got lost for a while, until finally spotting CURVE put me on the track of CURVIEST.  That was a letter short and I was about to turn to other options when I realised I could tack the remaining S on the front to get SCURVIEST.

My selection: SCURVIEST (17.0s)