NG 170

New game 170 is now available.


Round 1: W H U K S E I N L

I had HUSK, HIKES, WHISK, WINKLES, UNLIKE, wondered about SUNLIKE (not valid), WHELKS, WELKIN ("Archaic the sky; the vault of heaven"), and wondered if WELKINS was sustainable.  I'm still not sure about that, to be honest.

The other seven is HUNKIES (plural of HUNKY: "US Colloquial (derogatory) an unskilled or semiskilled worker of foreign birth, especially a Hungarian").

My selection: WINKLES


Round 2: N O R E L R D O I

I had LONER, RONDEL ("a short poem of fixed form, consisting usually of fourteen lines on two rhymes [...]"), IRONED, EIDOLON ("an image; a phantom; an apparition"), LOONIER, and wondered about DROOLER (not valid).

EIDOLON and LOONIER look like the only sevens, and the best to be done.

My selection: EIDOLON


Round 3: Target 879 from 100 50 7 4 9 3

The offset from 900 is 21, leading to a straightforward 879 = 9*100 - 3*7.

My selection: 879 = 9*100 - 3*7


Round 4: A A I R B D H O L

I had ARIA, BRAID, amused myself with BAD HAIR, HALOID ("denoting any halogen derivative"), and DAHLIA.

The seven here is LABROID ("belonging to or resembling the Labridae, a family of thick-lipped marine fishes including the tautog, etc.").  The other sixes are HAIRDO, ABOARD / ABROAD, BRIDAL / RIBALD, RADIAL, BAILOR ("someone who delivers good, etc., in bailment"), ALODIA (plural of ALODIUM, variant spelling of ALLODIUM: "land owned absolutely, not subject to any rent, service, or other tenurial right of an overlord"), and BHARAL ("a wild mountain sheep, Pseudois nayaur, of the rugged mountainous regions of the Himalayas, with hooves ending in a point as an adaptation for climbing rocks, and thick horns swept backwards").

My selection: DAHLIA
Best: LABROID


Round 5: A N S A E I T D S

I had SANE, ANISE, TISANE ("a herbal tea"), DETAINS, knew that DESTAINS was not valid from previous investigations, SANDIEST, and ANSATED (variant form of ANSATE: "having a handle or handle-like part").

The other eight is DIASTASE: "an enzyme (amylase) present in germinated barley, potatoes, etc., which converts starch into dextrin and maltose".

My selection: SANDIEST


Round 6: Target 847 from 25 75 100 6 8 3

My first observation was that the target is 7*121, or 7*11*11.  I was not able to make the 7 usefully, so instead I turned to the standard method and found 847 = 8*100 + 75 - 25 - 3.  Then I considered the option of 848 - 1 and found the alternative of 847 = 8*(100 + 6) - 3*25/75.  Finally I returned to the factorisation and got the form 77*11 to work with 847 = (75 + 6 - 100/25)*(8 + 3).

My selection: 847 = 8*100 + 75 - 25 - 3


Round 7: R N R A I E C C N

I had RAIN, CRANE, CANCER, and CANNIER.

CANNIER looks like the only seven; the other sixes are RACIER, CANNER, CANINE, CARNIE, RICRAC (variant spelling of RICKRACK: "a narrow zigzag braid used to trim clothing, etc."), and NARINE (also NARIAL: "of or relating to the nares or nostrils").

Update: The always-excellent Andrew Fisher points out the eight of CANCRINE ("crab-like").  Nice find!

My selection: CANNIER


Round 8: Target 444 from 25 100 50 9 7 8

My usual approach of getting nearby and adjusting gave a simple one-off 443 = 9*50 - 7.  It took longer than I liked, but I eventually realised that I could make it as 500 - 56 and some tweaking takes care of the rest: 444 = 8*(50 - 7) + 100.

My selection: 444 = 8*(50 - 7) + 100


Round 9: PURE SLOTH

My selection: [N/A -- conundrum chosen explicitly]
Best: UPHOLSTER