NG 173

New game 173 is now available.


Round 1: K E T E A S N T O

I had TAKE, STEAK, NOTATES, and KETONES (a KETONE being a type of chemical).  I also observed that if that K were a D then DETONATES would have been available.

Seven does seem to be the limit, with the other being NEATEST.

My selection: NOTATES


Round 2: N O R S O A H L O

I had SOON, SONAR, HONORS, and SALOON.  Not the most promising of mixes; I was briefly tempted by SONORAL but not for long.

Six looks like the best to be done; the other sure six is HOLONS (HOLON: "Philosophy a whole or individual entity which contains within it entities which also function as whole entities, as the human body which is a complete system but contains within it other systems such as the nervous system, digestive system, etc.").

The less certain ones are HALONS (HALON being the chemical bromotrifluoromethane), ORLONS (ORLON: "a synthetic acrylic textile fibre of light weight and good crease resistance [trademark]"), and LORANS (LORAN: "a long-range radionavigation position fixing system using the time difference of reception of pulse type transmissions from two or more fixed stations").

My selection: SALOON


Round 3: Target 247 from 50 8 2 3 5 5

It's hard to go past making this as 250 - 3; I started with the straightforward 247 = 5*50 - 3, then avoided the large number with 247 = 5*5*(8 + 2) - 3.

My selection: 247 = 5*50 - 3


Round 4: F T I A I G D F I

Ergh, not a nice mix at all.  I had FIAT and DIGIT.

DIGIT appears to be the only five, and the best to be done.

My selection: DIGIT


Round 5: G B E E H U I T C

I had GHEE ("clarified butter, used especially in Indian cooking"), HUGE, BITCH, BIGHT, EIGHT, CUBIT, wondered about EGETIC (no such word), BUTCH, and ended up trying my luck with HEBETIC.  I knew there were some words related to the HEBE root (I was thinking of the Greek goddess Hebe, which I recalled thanks to the film Harnessing Peacocks), and fortunately this was one of them: "relating to or occurring in puberty".  I'm pretty pleased that this guess turned out well.

HEBETIC looks like the only seven, and the only six seems to be TECHIE.

My selection: HEBETIC


Round 6: Target 243 from 100 75 5 9 8 1

I immediately recognised the target as the fifth power of 3, which makes it 9*27.  I tried for 9*9*3 but could not make the final 3, but 9*27 proved more manageable.  My first solution was 243 = 9*(100 - 75 + 8 - 5 - 1), then I saved a number with 243 = 9*(100/5 + 8 - 1).  Then I took a rather different tack -- I'm afraid I cannot recall what prompted me to look for it -- and found another solution of 243 = 5*(75 - 8) - 100 + 9 - 1.

My selection: 243 = 9*(100/5 + 8 - 1)


Round 7: C D A E W L M I S

I had ACED, CAWED, CLAWED, CLAIMED, and DECLAIMS / DECIMALS / MEDICALS.

That trio seems to be all of the eights.

My selection: DECLAIMS


Round 8: Target 466 from 50 75 100 4 10 2

The offsets are 9 and 16, but I was not able to find a good way for either of those.  I flailed around unproductively and in the end had to settle for one away with 465 = 4*100 + 75 - 10.

After time I found a way to get to 466, but it uses intermediate fractions which are not allowed: 100*(4 + (10 + 2)/75) + 50.

It turns out there is a single solution to this, and it can be worked towards.  The key is to notice that 16 is 2*10 - 4, and this makes tweaking possible.  The resulting solution is 466 = 2*(100 + 75 + 50 + 10) - 4.

My selection: 465 = 4*100 + 75 - 10  [1 off]
Best: 466 = (100 + 75 + 50 + 10)*2 - 4


Round 9: CHIRP GALA

I can't say what led me to it, but I found the answer of GRAPHICAL quickly by my standards.

My selection: GRAPHICAL (1.5s)