NG 158

New game 158 is now available.


Round 1: C M K S O E A S I

I had SMOCK, SMOKE, CAMEOS, and a succession of unlikely longer words (SMOKIES, MISCAKES, MACKIES, MOSKIES, and MOSCIES -- those last two were desperation potential colloquial shortenings of mosqito, but of course MOZZIES has that territory sown up) before being rather relieved to spot SEASICK as a safe seven.

The other safe seven here is MOSAICS, and those seem to be the only two.

My selection: SEASICK


Round 2: R T A U R I G S E

I had GUITAR, GUITARS, and tried to remember which, if either, of GUSTIER / GUTSIER was valid (it's GUSTIER).  I also noted that if that I were an O then SURROGATE would have been available.  After time I similarly noted that an I instead of the U would have allowed IRRIGATES also.

Seven does seem to be the limit as things stand -- SUGARIER is not allowed -- with the others being RUSTIER, GRATERS / GARTERS / GARRETS (GARRET being essentially another term for an attic), ARGUERS, GAITERS / STAGIER / SEAGIRT / TRIAGES, TARRIES / TARSIER, and AUGITES (AUGITE being a mineral).

My selection: GUITARS


Round 3: Target 698 from 100 75 25 50 2 8

A clear case for the standard method; I started with 698 = 8*100 - 75 - 25 - 2 and then saved a number with 698 = 8*75 + 100 - 2.

My selection: 698 = 8*75 + 100 - 2


Round 4: N S U A T T I L E

I had ANUS, AUNTS, TAUNTS, wondered about LUTANIST as a possible variant spelling of LUTENIST ("a player on the lute"), ATTUNES, LUTENIST, and INSULATE.  LUTANIST does indeed turn out to be an acceptable variant spelling, incidentally.

There's no nine -- AUNTLIEST is not allowed -- and the other eight is ALUNITES (ALUNITE being a mineral).  Plenty of sevens, of which I'll just mention AUNTIES, TALENTS, TETANUS, ENTAILS, and UTENSIL.

My selection: INSULATE


Round 5: S R R I I B N E A

I had IRIS, RIBS, BRINES, briefly wondered about BARNIES (in case BARNY was a variant spelling of BARNEY: "an argument; fight", but it is not), BRAINIER, and BINARIES.  (A side note: the Macquarie lists one definition of BINARY as "(plural) the executable version of a computer program".  The inclusion of the "(plural)" there is simply wrong.)

Those look like the only eights; the other sevens are BRINIER, BRASSIE (a type of golf club) / BRASIER (variant spelling of BRAZIER: "a metal receptacle for holding burning charcoal or other fuel"), BARRENS ("relatively infertile, level or slightly rolling land, usually having sandy soil and few trees"), and RAINIER..

My selection: BRAINIER


Round 6: Target 696 from 50 100 10 2 1 9

Getting close is not to hard, and fortunately I spotted how to make the requisite offset of 4, finding the solution 696 = (9 - 2)*100 - 50/10 + 1.  Then I considered the factorisation 6*116 which is 12*58 and found the alternative of 696 = (10 + 2)*(50 + 9 - 1).

My selection: 696 = (9 - 2)*100 - 50/10 + 1


Round 7: L C N O E W A C O

I had CLONE, CLOWN, and CONCEAL.

CONCEAL is the only seven; the sixes are CANCEL and WOOLEN (American spelling of WOOLLEN).

My selection: CONCEAL


Round 8: Target 886 from 100 50 4 5 1 8

I misread the total at first, tweaking my way to 8*(100 + 5 + 1 - 4) + 50 = 866.  Fortunately I caught that error, and looked at the option of 890 - 4.  That requires making 10 or 40, and the latter was easy; a short tweak later I had the solution 886 = 8*(100 + 5) + 50 - 4.

Then I considered the option of working down from 900, and was pleased to spot another solution: 886 = (8 + 1)*100 - 50/5 - 4.  That's two numbers rounds today where dividing the 50 by a small number has proved useful; I may be getting more attuned to it.

My selection: 886 = 8*(100 + 5) + 50 - 4


Round 9: LIE VISCID

I pulled out the -ISED fragment very early, and leapt to CIVILISED in rather quick time for me.

My selection: CIVILISED (1.1s)


Optimal game, woohoo!