NG 213

New game 213 is now available.  No, really.  Not like yesterday...


Round 1: O U E F D S H C Q

I had FEUD, FEUDS, HOUSED, was hoping for a final N for CONFUSED, and it took a little while but I found DOUCHES for seven.

The other sevens are HOCUSED and FOCUSED.  As I believe I've mentioned before, DEFOCUS is not listed in the Macquarie.

My selection: DOUCHES


Round 2: H N I N R A R A S

I had RAIN, SIRRAH, and SHARIA.  I also noted NARNIA for personal amusement.

The other six here is NAIRAS (NAIRA: "the unit of currency of Nigeria").

My selection: SIRRAH


Round 3: Target 659 from 25 4 2 1 6 7

Trying to apply the standard method would involve working up from 25*26 or down from 25*27.  I first saw 26 as 4*7 - 2 and that got me sidetracked a bit, as it is difficult to complete from there; I wrote down a two away 657 = (4*7 - 2)*25 + 6 + 1 as a result.  Similarly the 27 as 4*7 - 1 used up a bit too much.  I decided it was probably better to preserve tweaking options and just descend from 700 instead, where the offset is 41 which is 7*6 - 1.  The solution is a short tweak away: 659 = 7*(4*25 - 6) + 1.

Seen while writing this up is that I should have made the 26 originally as 2*13, and then the tweak works out: 659 = 2*((7 + 6)*25 + 4) + 1.

My selection: 659 = 7*(4*25 - 6) + 1


Round 4: B A R O M T E T A

I was hoping for BAROMETER here, but no such luck.  I had BOAR, ABORT, BROMATE, and ABETTOR.

There are two eights here: AMARETTO (the liqueur, not to be confused with AMORETTO which is a type of macaroon) / TERATOMA ("a tumour of an oocyte or a testis germ cell that may contain several different types of tissue, as bone, cartilage, muscle or epithelium; occurring most often in the ovary or testis in adults, and in the coccyx in children").

The other sevens are TABORET ("a low seat without back or arms, for one person; a stool") and TABARET ("a durable upholstery fabric made of satin and watered silk stripes").  AEROBAT is not listed, although AEROBATIC and AEROBATICS are

My selection: ABETTOR
Best: AMARETTO


Round 5: E E E L K R L D B

I had LEEK / KEEL, BLEEDER, and was wondering about the possible spelling REBELED when I realised there was a second L and so had REBELLED for eight.

That looks like the only eight; the other seven is BELLEEK ("a fragile, ornamental porcelain with a bright lustre").

My selection: REBELLED


Round 6: Target 717 from 100 25 75 6 2 8

The standard method is definitely tempting, with the offset of 8 already being handy.  I went with 717 = 8*100 - 75 - 6 - 2 at first, and tried to find more interesting solutions but all I could manage was the kitchen sink of 717 = (6 - 2)*(100 + 75) + 25 - 8.

My selection: 717 = 8*100 - 75 - 6 - 2


Round 7: U A P O W R F T T 

I had PROW, contemplated TROUP (invalid; I was, of course, thinking of TROUPE), and TROUT.  With OUTWRAP and OUTFART hopelessly optimistic, I had to stay with five.

Five seems to be the best on offer here; the others are TUTOR, APORT ("Nautical on or towards the port side"), TAROT, WRAPT (variant form of WRAPPED), and PUTTO ("a representation of a young naked boy, often as a cherub or cupid with wings, in Renaissance and baroque painting and sculpture").

My selection: TROUT


Round 8: Target 803 from 75 100 8 9 8 10

The small numbers are worrying, all being clustered at the top end like that.  The required offset is 3 which does not seem directly manageable without using them all up.  However, I remembered the handy fact that 72 is 3 away from 75 and thus found the solution 803 = 8*100 + 75 - 8*9, then tweaked it to save a number: 803 = 8*(100 - 9) + 75.

My selection: 803 = 8*(100 - 9) + 75


Round 9: LOCUS ALLY

Whoo, I got completely hung up on the -ALLY ending for this one, so I went nowhere for some time.  It was only when I abandoned that and looked simply at -LY instead that I found the answer of CALLOUSLY.

My selection: CALLOUSLY (19.5s)