NG 184

New game 184 is now available.


Round 1: R A E G N I R C C

I had GEAR, ANGER, and REARING / EARRING.  After  time I noted CRINGER as another seven.  If only that final C would have been an E then there would have been an easy CAREERING for nine.  The next vowel would have been an I instead, though, still allowing an improvement with GRAINIER.

The other sevens are ANGRIER / RANGIER / GRAINER and ANERGIC (adjective derived from ANERGY: "deficiency of energy").

My selection: REARING


Round 2: S I R O P E G A N

I had RIPS, ROPES, GROPES, PARISON ("a preliminary shape or blank, from which a glass article is to be formed"), and SPEARING.  After time I noted ORGANISE as another eight.

The other eights are SPONGIER / REPOSING.

My selection: SPEARING


Round 3: Target 653 from 9 6 8 1 6 2

A welcome return of the six small mix, although it turned out to be a tough example.  The target is clearly near 654 = 6*109, which could have led to a one off 654 = 6*(2*6*9 + 1), but I did not see that at first.  Instead I took the approach of dividing by the largest number to get an approximate factor, finding that the target was 9*72 + 5.  This got me to one away with 654 = (6 + 2 + 1)*9*8 + 6, and that was the best I could do.

It turns out that the target is unreachable, nd there are many ways to one off.

My selection: 654 = (6 + 2 + 1)*9*8 + 6


Round 4: D U S E D N A R D

The three D's are unpromising.  I had USED, DUDES, SUNDER, pondered but rejected UNDERADDS, and resorted to DANDERS for seven.  There's two definitions of DANDER: colloquial for temper, and "particles of dry scales or fluff, shed from the skin, hair or feathers of animals, which may act as allergens".  Both senses feel like mass nouns to me, so I'm dubious about the validity of the plural.  On the other hand, I can see a case for it.

Seven is the Macquarie's limit, with the others being ASUNDER / DANSEUR ("a male ballet dancer") and ADDENDS (ADDEND: "any of a set of numbers which are to be added").

There's a couple of longer words not in the Macquarie that would be allowed in Scrabble and are listed in Chambers. The nine is DEUDDARNS (DEUDDARN: "a Welsh dresser or sideboard in two stages"), which of course makes DEUDDARN an eight.  And Chambers also lists DAUNDER as a variant form of DANDER in a sense not listed in the Macquarie ("to stroll, saunter"), thus making DAUNDERS another eight.

My selection: DANDERS [validity uncertain]
Best: ASUNDER


Round 5: E S L O E T S I B

I had SOLE, STOLE, and TOELESS.

It's not the most promising of mixes, but there is an eight.  To OBELISE is "to mark (a word or passage) with an obelus", where an OBELUS is "a mark (– or ÷) used in ancient manuscripts to point out spurious, corrupt, doubtful, or superfluous words or passages".  Thus OBELISES is the eight from this mix.

The other sevens are OBELISE, BITLESS, BÊTISES (BÊTISE: "a stupid or foolish act or remark"), and TELESIS ("Sociology deliberate, purposeful utilisation of the processes of nature and society to obtain particular goals").

My selection: TOELESS
Best: OBELISES


Round 6: Target 721 from 100 25 4 3 2 10

My first thought was to make it as 725 - 4, but then I got pulled away by 7*103.  The 103 part is easy, and I managed to get the rest to work with 721 = (25 - 10 - 4*2)*(100 + 3).  (Seen while writing this up is that there was a shorter route to the 7, giving 721 = ((10 + 4)/2)*(100 + 3).)  Then I went back to the original idea to get 721 = (10 - 3)*100 + 25 - 4.

My selection: 721 = (25 - 10 - 4*2)*(100 + 3)


Round 7: E T T O D I E B S

I had TOTE, TOTED, DITTO, and BESOTTED.  After time I noted BETIDES as a seven.

The other eight is OBTESTED (OBTEST: "to invoke as witness").  BETIDES seems to be the only seven (I'm a bit surprised that BOTTIES does not get a mention.)

My selection: BESOTTED


Round 8: Target 837 from 100 9 7 8 8 3

I started by working my way up from 800, having noticed that 37 is the difference of two adjacent cubes (64 = four cubed - 27 = three cubed).  There were other ways to each of those numbers, so a solution happily resulted: 837 = 8*(100 + 8) - 3*9.  Then I looked at descent from 900 and realised that the offset of 63 was also divisible by 9.  That meant a factorisation of 9*93, and the solution 837 = 9*(100 - 7).

My selection: 837 = 9*(100 - 7)


Round 9: DUDE UNLED

All the repetition kept me bemused for a bit, but I pulled out UNDELUDED at some point.  I wasn't in love with it as an answer so I spent a little while longer checking for more compelling, but then went with it and it was the right answer.

My selection: UNDELUDED (8.9s)