NG 186

New game 186 is ready.


Round 1: E O E B S F D E S

The first of a few unpromising selections today.  I had BEES, BODES, and BOSSED.  I also amused myself with the idea that the opposite of bedfellows could be BEDFOES, but not seriously.

Six is the best on offer; the other is BEEFED.  Some sources would allow FESSED, but FESS is only listed in a verb sense as part of the phrase FESS UP, so it is not valid.

My selection: BOSSED


Round 2: A E A O D C W T O

I had CODA, COWED, and COATED.  The best hypothesis I could make for longer was TEAWOOD (presumably the wood of the tea-tree), but it was not at all convincing (nor is it valid).

Once again six is the best, and COATED appears to be the only one.

My selection: COATED


Round 3: Target 867 from 75 1 7 7 10 6

It would be nice to make this as 875 - 8, but 875 is not a multiple of 75.  I spent far too long considering working down from 12*75 = 900, but the 12 is expensive and that only got me to three away with 864 (not written down).  At some point I switched to using the 10 as a multiplier -- ideally 10*86 + 7 -- which I could not quite get to work.  It sufficed for one away, though, with 868 = (75 + 7)*10 + 6*(7 + 1).

Then I finally considered the option of working up from 11*75 = 825 instead, and the offset was a blindingly obvious 42.  Since the 11 is easily made, a solution followed: 867 = (10 + 1)*75 + 6*7.  Phew!

There's only two other solutions, both variations of the original idea I had of 875 - 8.  As we've established before, 875 is 7*125.  That's not immediately helpful, but 125 is 75*5/3, or 75*10/6.  And thus it works out: 867 = 7*75*10/6 - 7 - 1.  The slightly more complicated version of that is 867 = (7*(75*10 - 7) + 1)/6.

My selection: 867 = (10 + 1)*75 + 6*7


Round 4: O A I E M T D T G

I had ATOM, tried to recall if ATOMIE was valid (ATOMIES would be as the plural of ATOMY ("an atom; a mote") but I think I was being misled by memories of the D&D creature), and DIATOM.  After time I finally saw the plant GODETIA for seven; that used to be part of my standard L&N toolbox but the different distributions of these new games has put it into disuse.  Somewhat later I also saw MATTOID ("a person of abnormal mentality bordering on insanity").

The other seven here is OMITTED.

My selection: DIATOM
Best: OMITTED


Round 5: T E C I O S H A X

I had CITE, CITES, CHASTE, HOAXES, and considered ACHIEST but correctly rejected it.  I was sure there was a word from those seven letters but I could not unravel it.  After time I leapfrogged seven territory by finding the eight of CATHEXIS ("the investment of emotional significance in an activity, object, or idea").

CATHEXIS is the only eight (the Macquarie does not list the shrub ACHIOTE, so ACHIOTES is not valid).  The other sevens are AITCHES (the anagram of ACHIEST I had been trying to recall), COEXIST / EXOTICS (EXOTIC as a noun: "anything exotic, as a plant"), and EXOTICA.

My selection: CHASTE
Best: CATHEXIS


Round 6: Target 356 from 75 3 3 9 1 8

I worked my way up from 300 on this one; with the offset also being divisible by 4 this is equivalent to using the factorisation 4*89.  The resulting solution is 356 = (3 + 1)*(75 + 9 + 8 - 3).  Then I looked at what was involved in working down from 375 instead, and managed to get that to work also with 356 = (8 - 3)*(75 - (3 - 1)) - 9.

My selection: 356 = (3 + 1)*(75 + 9 + 8 - 3)


Round 7: B I N E S M U R U

I was hoping for a final A and SUBMARINE, but no such luck.  I had BINS, NUMBS, NUMBERS, and ERBIUMS / IMBRUES.

Seven is the best on offer; the others are MURINES (rodents of the family that includes mice and rats) and SUBERIN ("a substance contained in and characteristic of cork tissue").  Hopefully future editions that are more technology aware will mention SUBMENU, but it's not present yet.

My selection: NUMBERS


Round 8: Target 461 from 50 5 8 2 4 10

I would have liked to work up from 9*50 = 450, but that would have used up the important odd number.  Instead I switched tacks to use the 10 as a multiplier and found a solution of 461 = (50 - 4)*10 + (8 - 5 - 2).

My selection: 461 = (50 - 4)*10 + (8 - 5 - 2)


Round 9: DUNCE BULK

A few familiar fragments here in the shape of UN- and -ED, and putting the C and K together was not a big stretch.  I'm still a bit disappointed at the time it took me to get UNBUCKLED out of that, but it's part for the course on my conundrum speed.

My selection: UNBUCKLED (5.0s)